ADNOC, Petronas and Storegga team up for carbon capture and storage off Malaysia

Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petronas, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and UK’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) company Storegga have signed a joint study and development agreement (JSDA) to evaluate the CO2 emissions storage capabilities of saline aquifers and the construction of CCS facilities in the Penyu basin offshore Peninsular Malaysia. 

The agreement is targeting at least 5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of CO2 capture and storage capacity by 2030 and its scope includes a CO2 shipping and logistics study, geophysical and geomechanical modeling, reservoir simulation, and containment research while exploring the application of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to enhance storage capacity.

Activities are expected to begin later this year.

Petronas is a member of Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) Committee, which has identified CCS as one of six energy transition levers, while the standalone CCUS bill is anticipated by the end of this year from the Malaysian Government. The company took the final investment decision (FID) for the development of the first CCS project located offshore Malaysia at the end of 2022.

According to the company, the strategic partnership aligns with the company’s overarching goal of establishing Malaysia as a regional CCS hub to serve Asia Pacific where it may build up the storage capacity through saline aquifers.

Furthermore, Petronas said that Malaysia is interested in intensifying bilateral economic partnerships with the UAE in the fields of renewable energy, environment, economy, tourism, entrepreneurship, SMEs, and logistics, among others, within the Malaysia-UAE Joint Committee for Cooperation (JCC) framework.

“This agreement with ADNOC and Storegga will potentially allow us to build our capability to develop and de-risk saline aquifers as carbon dioxide storage sites by leveraging on our partners’ expertise and experience in other regions,” said Nora’in Md Salleh, CEO of PETRONAS CCS Solutions Sdn. Bhd. (PCCSS).

“With the signing of the JSDA, PETRONAS supports the JCC and enhances the established relationship between PETRONAS and ADNOC, reciprocating PETRONAS’ presence in ADNOC’s unconventional upstream business in Abu Dhabi.”

ADNOC, which in its new multi-year strategy revealed it was to allocate $15 billion for low-carbon projects, is targeting a carbon capture capacity of 10 mtpa by 2030. The UAE energy giant became a lead investor in Storegga at the beginning of this year.

Storegga’s portfolio includes the development of the Acorn CCS project in the UK, a license to develop the Trudvang CCS project in Norway, as well as several CCS opportunities in the U.S.

Hanan Balalaa, ADNOC Senior Vice President for New Energies, said: “Carbon capture is an important tool to responsibly reduce carbon emissions and ADNOC will continue to develop this technology as we work towards our Net Zero by 2045 goal. We are committed to working with trusted global partners like PETRONAS and Storegga to develop and utilize global carbon management hubs, enabling our customers to reduce their emissions and supporting their decarbonization goals.”