Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas and Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly explore opportunities in liquefied carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation for the carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) value chain in Asia Pacific and Oceania regions.
MOL, working with Larvik Shipping AS, will contribute its shipping expertise in the project. MOL last year made its first investment in the CO2 ocean transport business by investing in Norway-based Larvik Shipping. The company is one of the few companies in the world operating liquefied CO2 vessels for food-grade CO2, used mainly by hospitals, breweries, and the food industry. MOL is seeking to build on Larvik Shipping expertise to safely and efficiently connect CO2 collection sites with storage or use sites where pipelines are not economically viable.
CCUS is expected to play an important role in global decarbonization initiatives, but with just under 30 commercial CCUS projects in operation as of 2021, more are need to meet net zero targets, according to the International Energy Agency.
“PETRONAS continuously explores opportunities to reduce carbon emissions in our operations,” said Adif Zulkifli, Petronas’ Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Upstream. “This collaboration is important as long haul liquefied CO2 transportation plays an essential role in the CCUS value chain. We are confident that MOL’s strong track record, coupled with its recent acquisition of Larvik Shipping AS which has safely transported CO2 for over 30 years, will position both PETRONAS and MOL as leaders in the region for long haul transportation of liquefied CO2.”
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