Established partners Sumitomo Corporation and 44.01 have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with oil and natural gas giant ENEOS Xplora, agreeing to cooperate on a carbon mineralization demonstration in the Middle East.
Under this agreement, the companies will align efforts to demonstrate and commercialize CO2 mineralization both in Japan and other overseas locations, specifically aiming to prove the performance of this technology in the Middle East by 2030.
Conventional carbon mineralization approaches include injecting captured CO2 into sandstone formations, while the MOU cooperation will work to establish a process for injecting CO2 into igneous rock formations.
By demonstrating this technology, ENEOS, Sumitomo, and 44.01 expect to expand the range of geological formations suitable for CO2 mineralization and raise the total volume of carbon dioxide that can be stored via this method.
The partnership will leverage 44.01’s extensive expertise in CO2 mineralization in peridotite igneous rock, found abundantly in both Japan and the Middle East.
Last year, 44.01’s joint initiative with Aircapture called Project Hajar won the XFACTOR prize from the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Competition, securing a $1 million award to further advance operations.
Based in the city of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, Project Hajar uses Aircapture’s direct air capture technology to lock in atmospheric CO2, which 44.01 mineralizes for permanent storage underground.
The United Arab Emirates is also home to 44.01’s pilot joint project with Holcim, focused on capturing and mineralizing CO2 from cement production—one of the notoriously hard-to-abate industrial sectors.
Relevant: Holcim And 44.01 Pilot Cement CO2 Mineralization Project In The UAE
Xplora, on the other hand, has also been making steady strides in the exploration and advancement of CO2 mineralization.
Besides collaborating in this direction with the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), the company also teamed up with Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. and the Japan Carbon Frontier Organization (JCOAL), launching a cooperative framework for domestic CO2 mineralization demonstration in November 2025.
Combining these in-depth industry insights, the newly announced Middle East collaborative demonstration is well positioned to introduce breakthroughs in CO2 mineralization that could scale this technology further.
Read more: 44.01 Secures New $5M Series A Funding For Its Carbon Mineralization Technology
