PETRONAS, ADNOC and Storegga announced today the signing of a Joint Study and Development Agreement to evaluate the carbon dioxide emissions storage capabilities of saline aquifers and the construction of carbon capture and storage 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 modelling, reservoir simulation and containment research while exploring the application of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to enhance storage capacity.

Nora’in Md Salleh, PETRONAS CCS Solutions Sdn. Bhd. (PCCSS)’s Chief Executive Officer said, “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. This strategic partnership aligns with PETRONAS’ 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. This also demonstrates our earnestness in establishing the right pace to deliver CCS hubs here while also contributing to the national climate target.”

PETRONAS is a member of Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) Committee, which has identified CCS as one of six energy transition levers to enable the country to be sustainable, low-carbon and resilient. The Malaysian Government is set to table a standalone CCUS bill by the end of 2024.

Nora’in Md Salleh added: “Malaysia is interested in intensifying bilateral economic partnerships with the UAE in the fields of economy, tourism, entrepreneurship, SMEs, fintech, innovation, transportation, renewable energy, logistics, agriculture, food security, environment and infrastructure within the Malaysia-UAE Joint Committee for Cooperation (JCC) framework. 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.”

Having Storegga as a partner to collaborate in Malaysia is imperative, as Storegga is one of the few companies that boldly took the first steps to progress CCS globally when it was in its infancy stage. Today, Storegga is widely recognized as one of the leading players in this space.

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.”

Malaysia’s geological abundance of deep saline aquifer reservoirs should allow for the development of large-scale, permanent CO2 storage solutions and the agreement will significantly accelerate regional CCS deployment, while strengthening collaboration between the strategic partners. The success of this initiative will lay the foundations for a regional CCS hub serving both domestic and international emitters.

ADNOC is targeting a carbon capture capacity of 10 mtpa by 2030, which is the equivalent emissions to those released by 2 million internal combustion vehicles.

Tim Stedman, CEO of Storegga, said: “This pioneering partnership is an opportunity to develop a world-class CCS hub and bring about large-scale industrial decarbonization. Storegga’s experience from other leading CCS regions, plus the expertise of our partners, represent a combined intent to act now to tackle climate change.”

The JSDA’s activities are provisionally scheduled to begin later this year.