Qatar is sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) from the present around 2-2.5mn tonnes to 9mn by 2030 and further to 11-13mn by 2035, according to HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi.
This was disclosed by the minister during a plenary panel discussion with the chief executive officers of QatarEnergy’s partner international energy companies at the 21st International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG2026), which began yesterday.
“We are doing our best to develop and adopt the best technologies to reduce emissions, including carbon dioxide sequestration in order to deliver the most affordable energy to the market in the most environmentally responsible manner,” said HE al-Kaabi, who is also the president and chief executive officer of QatarEnergy, the country’s energy behemoth.
QatarEnergy had awarded Samsung C&T Corporation the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for a landmark carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project to serve QatarEnergy’s existing LNG production facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City.
The new project will capture and sequester up to 4.1mn tonnes of CO2 per annum, making it one of the worlds largest of its kind and placing Qatar at the forefront of global large-scale carbon capture deployment, reinforcing its leadership role in providing responsible and sustainable energy.
QatarEnergy launched its first CCS project in 2019 with a capacity of 2.2 mtpy. Two other ongoing CCS projects will serve the North Field East and North Field South expansion projects, capturing and storing 2.1 mtpy and 1.2 mtpy of carbon dioxide respectively.
QatarEnergy’s North Field East (NFE), North Field South (NFS), and North Field West (NFW) expansion projects would be integrated with the CCS infrastructure, targeting total capacity of over 5.5 mtpy once fully operational.
Other CCUS plans include expanding CCS capacity at existing LNG trains, capturing CO2 in the production of lower-carbon ammonia, studying post-combustion carbon capture at gas-fired turbines, further design modifications of the existing CCS infrastructure to increase the annual injection capacity closer to its design limits and developing infrastructure to pilot utilisation of captured CO2 from RLIC for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project in Dukhan.
In respect of QatarEnergy LNG North and South CO2 Capture Project, it aims to capture around 4 mtpy of CO2 from the existing LNG facilities by compressing and injecting it via six wells within RLIC by 2030.
Stressing that politically driven and emotional calls by policymakers can’t solve the problems; HE al-Kaabi said it is important for policymakers to be realistic about what can and cannot be delivered.
They need to listen to the people who understand the business.
“We need to also support the growth of economies around the world, and while realistic solutions can be made available many would say they are nice to have but will not be willing to pay for it,” he said, in specific reference to projects like green and blue ammonia as well as green hydrogen.