Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (Petronas) has signed a terms sheet with Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. (MOL) and MISC Bhd. for a potential joint venture (JV) that would advance the commercial-scale deployment of liquefied carbon dioxide (CO2) carriers.
The purpose of the planned entity is to “invest in the development and monetization of liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) carriers for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Malaysia,” the national oil company said and gas in a recent press release.
Petronas would be part of the joint venture through its wholly owned subsidiary Petronas CCS Ventures Sdn. Bhd., which signed the deadline at an event attended by executives from partner companies. The term sheet sets out “key business terms to enable progress to the next stage,” the announcement said.
Petronas previously said it has passed technical assessments from Norwegian and US classification societies for the LCO2 vessels it is developing with Mitsui and the Shanghai Merchant Ship Research and Design Institute (SDARI).
Det Norsk Veritas AS approved a short-haul LCO2 carrier with a capacity of 494,405.33 cubic feet (14,000 cubic meters) and a long-haul LCO2 vessel that can hold up to 3.07 million cubic feet (87,000 cubic meters cubic). “The other two AiP [approvals in principle] of the ABS [American Bureau of Shipping] are for an 87,000 m3 LCO2 carrier with dynamic positioning system and a 96,000 m3 [3.39 million cubic feet] LCO2 FSO [floating storage offloading unit] for intermediate storage,” Petronas said in a June 28 press release.
“The 14,000 m3 LCO2 carrier is currently the world’s largest design with AiP for medium temperature and medium pressure conditions, while the 87,000 m3 LCO2 carrier and the 96,000 m3 LCO2 FSO are currently the largest designs grains in the world with AiP for low-temperature and low-temperature conditions.”
“The AiPs indicate that the classification societies have reviewed and approved the basic design of the LCO2 conveyors as well as the FSO as they meet the technical requirements and safety criteria,” the company said.
Nobuo Shiotsu, MOL’s senior executive director, said of the successful assessment: “Large-scale development is an essential step for the CCS value chain in the Asia Pacific and Oceania region.”
Commenting on the signing of the term sheet, Petronas Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Datuk Adif Zulkifli said: “LCO2 carriers are integral to the CCS value chain in connecting customers with carbon capture sites and locations of storage”.
“Our partnership with MOL and MISC is a powerful synergy of multiple expertise, abundant resources and shared values,” Zulkifli added.
Rajalingam Subramaniam, Chairman and CEO of shipping company MISC, said: “Once again, our call to the maritime and other hard-to-cut industries is to collaborate and do only for the betterment of communities.”
Petronas has said it aims to make Malaysia a regional leader in the CCS sector, in a region where the sector is just catching up.
A 2021 report by the International Energy Agency said Southeast Asia had yet to develop policies to facilitate CCS investment. Most governments in the region have only recently recognized the value of the CCS sector in driving investment, Wood Mackenzie said in a report last year. But WoodMac painted an optimistic outlook on the sector’s potential in the Asia-Pacific.
“In Wood Mackenzie’s AET-1.5 grade scenario [accelerated energy transition scenario]Asia Pacific represents approximately 50 percent of CCUS’s global capacity,” WoodMac said.
For Southeast Asia, estimates indicate that carbon storage capacity could exceed the region’s needs, as depleting oil and gas reserves present large-scale opportunities, the report said. ‘IAE.
To contact the author, please email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
