Mideast Steps Up CCS Plans Ahead of COP28

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is entering a critical phase in the oil- and gas-rich Middle East. Gulf producers are counting on the technology to sustain the role of oil and gas in the energy transition — a controversial position they will push at this year's COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates. Broader adoption of CCS will be needed for the region to lower its large carbon footprint and perhaps extend the run for oil and gas. So far, CCS capacity has been spread across oil and gas heavyweights Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE at levels of around 4 million tons per year, accounting for roughly 10% of CO2 captured globally each year, according to the Global CCS Institute (GCCSI). But Mideast players are starting to step up efforts. Earlier this month, Abu Dhabi National Co. (Adnoc) made a final investment decision (FID) on a 1.5 million tons/yr carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) project linked to its massive Habshan gas processing complex, the UAE’s largest, with capacity of above 6 million cubic feet per day. Set to be completed in 2026, the project will take Adnoc’s existing CCUS capacity of 800,000 tons/yr from the Abu Dhabi-based industrial CCUS Al-Reyadah project to around 2.3 million tons/yr — nearly half its 2030 target of 5 million tons/yr. Habshan will use captured CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The CO2 will remain stored underground permanently by utilizing a so-called closed-loop CO2 capture and reinjection system that’s set to be deployed across all of Adnoc’s CCUS projects to be implemented by 2030, a source familiar with the matter says. The project will be funded under Adnoc’s $15 billion low-carbon solutions investment budget and be built, operated and maintained by its Abu Dhabi-listed Adnoc Gas unit.