UAE’s ADNOC partners with Occidental to explore CCU investments

The partnership will assess the joint development of direct air-capture plants in the UAE that can absorb carbon dioxide out of the sky

by Kudakwashe Muzoriwa

August 2, 2023

Image courtesy: Christopher Pike/ Getty Images

ADNOC Group has partnered with Occidental Petroleum to explore carbon capture and storage (CCS) investment opportunities in the UAE and the US to create a carbon management platform to accelerate the two entities’ net zero goals.

The partnership between ADNOC and Occidental is backed by the agreement between the UAE and the US to invest $100bn (Dhs367bn) in clean energy and carbon management projects, including CCS and direct air capture (DAC) by 2035.

Under the partnership, ADNOC and Occidental are evaluating the development of DAC facilities in the UAE, including what could be the first megaton DAC project constructed outside of the US. The duo will also assess the joint development of one or more direct air-capture plants in the UAE that could absorb as much as one million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

The hubs would be able to offer carbon capture services and provide the necessary infrastructure to safely transport carbon dioxide from the UAE’s carbon-intensive and hard-to-abate sectors and permanently store it in Abu Dhabi’s ideal geological formations.

ADNOC plans to invest in several DAC and carbon sequestration hubs in the US that are under development by Occidental’s subsidiary, 1PointFive. 1PointFive’s Stratos DAC project in Texas is one of such hubs and it is expected to capture 500,000 tonnes of carbon from the skies per year when fully operational.

At ADNOC, we thrive on strategic partnerships, which is why we are enthusiastic about our new collaboration with Occidental to evaluate carbon management projects.

— ADNOC Group (@ADNOCGroup) August 1, 2023

In other news, the Abu Dhabi-based energy giant is also in talks with ExxonMobil to collaborate on low-carbon technologies and the outlook for the global energy industry.

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi met with Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, managing director and group CEO of ADNOC Group and Darren Woods, ExxonMobil’s chairman and CEO in Abu Dhabi on August 1. They agreed to look for opportunities to work together on decarbonisation and technology exchanges.

ADNOC accelerates decarbonisation

Meanwhile, the partnership with Occidental and talks with ExxonMobil comes a day after ADNOC unveiled plans to accelerate its decarbonisation strategy, bringing forward its net zero carbon emissions target by five years to 2045.

Previously, ADNOC unveiled plans to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity by 25 per cent, as well as boost carbon capture, utilisation and storage capacity by 500 per cent by 2030. However, on Monday the oil major said it aimed to cut carbon intensity by 25 per cent by 2030.

Similarly, its 2022 methane intensity was about 0.07 per cent and its upstream carbon intensity was around 7kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per barrel of oil equivalent. Previously, the Abu Dhabi-based firm had said it is committed to upstream methane intensity of 0.15 per cent by 2025.

The energy firm’s decarbonisation plan covers so-called Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, which measure the amount of carbon dioxide that comes directly from the company’s own operations and from the energy it uses to run its business.

The ambitious emissions target makes it the first in its peer group to accelerate its net zero target to 2045. ADNOC said its upstream carbon intensity was around seven kgs of carbon dioxide equivalent per barrel of oil equivalent in 2022, which is among the lowest in the world.