Sharjah National Oil Corporation (SNOC) and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation (TYO: 8053) have signed an initial agreement to jointly explore a carbon capture project in Sharjah, one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the National News reported Monday, citing a statement by SNOC.
Under the terms of the deal, the partners will conduct a feasibility study covering the entire carbon capture and storage (CCS) value chain, including transport, storage, business models, and assessment of regulatory aspects.
The Japanese diversified corporation signed the agreement through its wholly-owned subsidiary Sumitomo Corporation Middle East FZE.
According to the statement by SNOC, CCS has the potential to support the company’s goal of reaching net zero on its own operations by 2032, and a CCS hub would contribute “significantly” to the decarbonization of the Northern Emirates.
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The partners will collaborate with industry leaders, environmental organizations, and regulators during the feasibility study in order to develop a viable project adhering to the highest standards, Hatem Al Mosa, SNOC’s chief executive, was quoted as saying.
“We believe there is big potential for CCS in the Middle East, which is a key technology to materialize energy transition,” Hajime Mori, managing director of Sumitomo’s subsidiary, further said.
State-owned SNOC, which was established in 2010, has been focusing on repurposing its mature gas reservoirs in Sharjah, while Sumitomo has been looking for partners to advance its CCS projects globally, according to the National News.
According to estimates by consulting major McKinsey & Co published in April, in order for countries to achieve their net-zero commitments, global carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) uptake needs to expand 120 times from current levels by 2050, rising to at least 4.2 gigatons per annum (GTPA) of carbon dioxide (CO2) captured.
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