KUCHING: Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros), a Petronas unit and three Japanese firms will jointly study the feasibility of turning the depleted M3 gas field offshore Sarawak into a carbon storage site.
Petros, Petronas CCS Ventures Sdn Bhd Japan and the consortium of Japanese firms — Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. (Japex), JGC Holdings Corporation (JGC) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line) — signed the storage site agreement (SSA) in a virtual event today.
Petros said the agreement also covered the planning of CO2 storage site development, including onshore terminals and transportation pipelines, as well as assessment of its techno-commercial feasibility.
"This collaboration represents a significant advancement in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Asia-Pacific region, including Malaysia and Japan," it said.
The signatories are Nazrin Banu Shaikh S. Ahmad for Petros, Emry Hisham Yusoff for Petronas CCS Ventures, Yamada Tomomi for Japex, Aika Masahiro for JGC, andKnanamoriSatoshi for K Line.
Nazrin, a senior Petros vice president, said: "This step forward signifies our commitment as Sarawak's economic growth engine leveraging CCUS (carbon capture, utilisation and storage) as an enabler."
Nazrin added this was the first CCUS project and could be the impetus to more low-carbon solutions.
"We are pleased to share our commitment to Sarawak with Petronas and the Japanese consortium, which are participating with us in this CCUS project," Nazrin said.
Petronas CCS Ventures chief executive officer Emry said the collaboration was "not just a strategic move to unlock potential CCS opportunities in Sarawak but necessary in addressing climate change as a collective action in achieving a low-carbon future".
He said securely storing captured CO2 underground had a pivotal role in decarbonising key industries, and it was hoped that this milestone would set an impetus for other CCS initiatives in Malaysia.
The M3 field, formerly operated by Shell Malaysia, is approximately 250km offshore Bintulu.
