Saudi Aramco has signed a joint development agreement with Houston-based SLB, formerly Schlumberger, and Linde to establish a carbon capture and storage hub in Jubail, which will potentially store up to 9 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2027, the company’s CEO Amin Nasser said on Thursday.
Aramco, one of the biggest oil producers in the world, made the announcement during the United Nations Climate Change Summit, known as COP 27, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
“At Aramco, we aim to contribute around 6 million tons, and the remaining 3 million tons from other industrial sources. As overall capacity ramps up, we will start other phases of our carbon-capture sequestration process,” Nasser said.
He added: “We are the founding members of the oil and gas climate initiative, which drives collective action at the industry level. At the company level, Aramco announced the creation of a $1.5 billion sustainability fund to find solutions to climate challenges.”
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said during the announcement that Saudi Arabia could achieve its net-zero target before the stipulated target in 2060.
“I’m very pleased to announce the establishment of a carbon capture and storage hub through a partnership with Aramco, which will help the Kingdom to meet its net-zero ambition by 2060. Don’t be very surprised if we achieve this net zero even before that period,” the Saudi prince said.
