Adnoc approves project to triple its carbon capture capacity

Wam

• Habshan project due in 2026
• Plant will store 1.5 mtpa of CO2
• Adnoc to invest $15bn in decarbonisation

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc) has approved a new carbon capture, utilisation and storage project that will triple its annual carbon capture capacity.

The project at its Habshan gas processing plant will be able to permanently store 1.5 million tonnes a year (mpta) of CO2 in subterranean rock below the site.

On completion in 2026 it will become the second-largest carbon capture project in the Gulf (the largest is at a Qatar Gas liquefaction plant).

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Adnoc executive director Musabbeh al Kaabi announced that the company had taken the final investment decision to proceed with the Habshan project.

It is part of plans for the government-run business to reach net zero emissions by 2045.

Gulf oil producers have been using CO2 capture technology for more than 40 years to remove the compound from natural gas before it is shipped for consumption. They have both the in-house expertise and the infrastructure to handle large volumes of CO2.

Adnoc’s first carbon capture facility Al-Reyadah launched operations in 2016. It captures 800,000 tonnes annually of CO2 emitted from production at Emirates Steel Arkan, which it then injects into onshore oil fields.

Habshan will triple Adnoc’s carbon capture capacity to 2.3 mtpa, which is the equivalent of removing 500,000 petrol-powered cars from the road each year.

The company’s long-standing target is to increase this to 5 mtpa by 2030, which it says will provide the same amount of carbon capture as a forest twice the size of the UAE.

On August 1, Adnoc and US oil company Occidental signed a “strategic collaboration agreement” to evaluate potential investments in carbon capture and storage hubs in the UAE and the US.

Adnoc plans to invest an initial $15 billion in decarbonisation projects.