Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla held bilateral talks with Andrew Brown, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Storegga, which specializes in providing green energy solutions and carbon storage, and its delegation, on the sidelines of the British Egyptian Business Association’s (BEBA) trade mission event in the UK.

El Molla explained that reducing carbon and switching to low-carbon energy sources are two essential elements of the Egyptian petroleum sector’s strategy. This strategy emphasizes cooperation in the carbon capture and storage industry as well as the use of modern technologies and specialized expertise.

The minister explained that the real challenge facing the application of carbon capture and storage technologies is to transform these projects into economically sustainable solutions for companies, which makes the integration of the element of using the carbon dioxide gas that is captured within these projects important to improve the economic returns of the projects.

El Molla appreciated the British government’s efforts to spread the mechanism of carbon capture and storage in various industrial activities from multiple sources.

El Molla highlighted that the ministry is currently working with the World Bank to prepare a study on new and innovative models that can be applied to improve the economics of carbon capture and storage projects.

Meanwhile, Brown showcased details of the Acorn project in Scotland, which is one of the most important and pioneering carbon capture projects that serves carbon removal efforts in the North Sea region. He said that they cooperate with major companies, ExxonMobil and Shell, to provide solutions and technologies that are compatible with the objectives of the project, which has a large capacity in the ability to capture and store carbon.

El Molla praised what was presented about Storegga’s efforts in implementing carbon capture and storage projects, in addition to producing blue hydrogen from natural gas.