KUCHING: Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) will work with PETRONAS and three Japanese consortium parties to develop carbon storage at a depleted oil field off the shore of Sarawak.

       Petros signed a storage site agreement with PETRONAS subsidiary CCS Ventures Sdn Bhd and the Japanese consortium comprising Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd (Japex), JGC Holdings Corporation and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd to enable feasibility studies of carbon storage sites starting with the M3 depleted field.

       The agreement, signed on Monday (Feb 26), will also enable the planning of relevant carbon storage site development, including onshore terminals and transportation pipelines, and 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," the parties said in a joint statement on Thursday (Feb 29).

       Petros senior vice-president (Sarawak resource management) Nazrin Banu Shaikh S. Ahmad said the agreement signified the state-owned company's commitment to leverage carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) as an enabler.

       "This is the first project for the industry and the impetus to more low-carbon solution projects.

       "We are pleased to share our commitment to Sarawak with PETRONAS and the Japanese consortium who are participating with us in this CCUS project," he said.

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       PETRONAS CCS Ventures chief executive officer Emry Hisham Yusoff said the collaboration was not only a strategic move to unlock potential CCS opportunities in Sarawak but necessary to address climate change through collective action.

       "By securely storing captured carbon underground, CCS plays a pivotal role in decarbonising key industries, and it is hoped that this milestone will set an impetus for other CCS initiatives within Malaysia," he added.

       Japex managing executive officer Tomomi Yamada, representing the Japanese consortium parties, said: "We are proud to work with PETRONAS CCS Ventures and Petros on this project and believe that the expertise of each company can make a great contribution to realising the CCS value chain centred on Sarawak."

       He added that this aimed to decarbonise the Asia Pacific region, including Japan.