Malaysian state oil firm Petronas said on Tuesday it had decided to develop the Kasawari carbon sequestration project in offshore Sarawak as part of the final investment decision (FID) on the venture.
Petronas said the project - located in Block SK316 off Bintulu town - is expected to reduce 3.3 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2e) emitted annually, making it one of the largest offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the world.
"This project is expected to become the catalyst in achieving end-to-end CCS capability development within Petronas and the first step in unlocking Malaysia’s potential as a regional CCS solutions hub," said Hasliza Othman, chief executive of its exploration and production arm Petronas Carigali.
Petronas did not specify the investment needed in the Kasawari project and has previously also not provided financial details. The CCS project is key to Petronas' plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
(Reuters - Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)