Petros, PETRONAS and Japan consortium sign CO2 storage site agreement

KUCHING: Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros), Petronas subsidiary CCS Ventures Sdn Bhd, and three Japanese consortium parties signed a storage site agreement (SSA) for the M3 depleted field offshore Sarawak on Monday.

In a joint statement today, the companies said the agreement paves the way for feasibility studies of the carbon dioxide (CO2) storage sites to be done, starting with the M3 depleted field, and also planning of CO2 storage site development.

“This includes onshore terminals and transportation pipelines, as well as an assessment of its techno-commercial feasibility.

“This collaboration represents a significant advancement in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Asia Pacific (APAC), including Malaysia and Japan,” the statement said.

The Japanese consortium comprised Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd. (JAPEX), JGC Holdings Corp (JGC), and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (“K”LINE).

Signatories to the agreement are Petros senior vice president, Sarawak resource management Nazrin Banu Shaikh S. Ahmad, and CCS Ventures chief executive officer Emry Hisham Yusoff.

The Japanese consortium was represented by JAPEX managing executive officer and president of overseas business division II Yamada Tomomi; JGC senior executive officer, technology commercialization officer Aika Masahiro; and “K”LINE managing executive officer for carbon-neutral promotion Kanamori Satoshi.

Nazrin said such an agreement signifies Petros’ commitment as Sarawak’s economic growth engine leveraging on carbon capture, utilisation and storage as an enabler, the statement said.

“This is the first project for the industry and the impetus to more low-carbon solution projects,” she said.

Emry said the collaboration and milestone will set an impetus for other carbon capture storage (CCS) initiatives in Malaysia.

Representing the Japanese consortium parties, Yamada said he believes each company’s expertise can contribute to realizing Sarawak’s CCS value chain, to decarbonise APAC, including Japan. – BK