Saudi Arabia to establish carbon capture and storage hub

Oil giant Saudi Aramco and the Saudi energy ministry will establish a carbon capture and storage hub, Arab News reported. 

After the announcement of the new project, Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that the kingdom could achieve its net-zero target before the stipulated target in 2060. 

Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said that the new hub in Jubail will have a storage capacity of up to nine million tons of carbon dioxide annually by 2027, the report said. 

“At Aramco, we aim to contribute around six million tons, and the remaining three million tons from other industrial sources,” he said, adding the company will start other phases of its carbon-capture sequestration process as overall capacity ramps up.

Saudi Aramco announced in October the creation of a $1.5 billion sustainability fund to find solutions to climate challenges.

Managed by Aramco Ventures, its venture capital arm, the sustainability fund is an extension of the company’s efforts to meet the world’s growing energy demand, with lower greenhouse gas emissions.

The fund plans to invest in technologies that support the company’s announced net-zero 2050 ambition in its wholly-owned operational assets, as well as the development of new lower-carbon fuels.