The Middle East could become a leader in global carbon capture

Saudi Aramco - Saudi Arabian Oil Company - is the world's largest company in crude oil production and reserves. Just as a reference, Saudi Aramco is worth US$ 2.37 trillion, about 23 times more than Brazil's Petrobras. And it profits R$ 2.5 billion per day.

Saudi Aramco recently announced that it plans to start storing carbon dioxide permanently from 2026 at one of the largest facilities of its kind. The company seeks to capture the carbon dioxide emitted by processes that convert natural gas into blue hydrogen and ammonia products, among other industrial activities, and store the pollutant underground in a reservoir that previously produced oil and gas. That is, CCS Carbon Capture and Storage. The first phase of the project near the industrial city of Jubail, on the east coast of Saudi Arabia, could store between 5 million and 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which is equivalent to the emissions of around 1 to 2 million vehicles. of gasoline-powered passengers driven over the course of a year. Click here for press release.

The company currently has the daily capacity to capture and process 45 million cubic feet of CO2 at the factory in Hawiyah. The captured CO2 is piped 85 kilometers and pumped into the Uthmaniyah oil reservoir, sequestering the gas and helping to maintain pressure in the reservoir and recover even more oil. Since the initial injection of CO2 in 2015, the company has doubled production rates across four wells. Click here for more about Saudi Aramco's CCS.

Click on the image below for an article by S&P Global entitled “The Middle East can become a leader in global carbon capture”. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (our article from yesterday) predicts a market of 50 million t/y in the region a decade from now, led by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. By the way, this Bahraini initiate is unusual: capturing CO2 from the aluminum smelter of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba). Click here for the press release.