RIYADH: Saudi Arabian Oil Co., one of the biggest oil producers in the world, has joined hands with the Kingdom’s energy ministry to establish a carbon capture and storage hub as Saudi Arabia steadily progresses to achieve its net-zero ambition by 2060. The announcement was made during the Saudi Green Initiative on Thursday on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Summit, known as COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. After the announcement of the new project, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that the Kingdom could achieve its net-zero target before the stipulated target in 2060. “The Kingdom is taking another bold step. I’m very pleased to announce the establishment of a carbon capture and storage hub through a partnership with Aramco, which will help the Kingdom to meet its net-zero ambition by 2060. Don’t be very surprised if we achieve this net zero even before that period,” said the minister. He added: “We honor our commitments and deliver them. We have to showcase that we are honorably achieving our commitments.” During the speech, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said that the new CCS hub would be located on the east coast of Saudi Arabia in Jubail. According to Nasser, the hub will have a storage capacity of up to 9 million tons of carbon dioxide a year by 2027. “At Aramco, we aim to contribute around 6 million tons, and the remaining 3 million tons from other industrial sources. As overall capacity ramps up, we will start other phases of our carbon-capture sequestration process,” said Nasser. Nasser added: “We are the founding members of the oil and gas climate initiative, which drives collective action at the industry level. At the company level, Aramco announced the creation of a $1.5 billion sustainability fund to find solutions to climate challenges.” He further noted it is a challenging period for the energy sector. “This is a testing time in the world of energy. All of us need a little inspiration as we face the triple challenges in the sector; security, equity and environmental sustainability,” said Nasser.