Economic Potential of DACCS and Global CCS Progress
4.4 REGIONAL OVERVIEW:
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
(MENA) REGION
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the largest
oil-exporting region in the world. Around 85 per cent
of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the region
come from energy production, electricity generation,
the industrial sector, and domestic energy consumption.
The MENA region is considered one of the most carbon-
intensive, with countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia
among the world's top 10 per capita carbon emitters.
Without a change in energy policies and energy
consumption behaviour, MENA's energy-related GHG
emissions will continue to grow (1). The figure below
shows the GHG emissions in the individual MENA
region countries (2). Moreover, the MENA region holds a
major stock of the world's oil and gas reserves and has
always been a key player in the geopolitics of energy. To
maintain this position, the region is required to invest in
decarbonisation and clean energy technology options.
CCS represents an opportunity in the region to reduce
carbon dioxide emissions. Three operational CCS
facilities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar already
account for around 10 per cent of global CO2 captured
each year (3). Moreover, the region has extensive
experience in CO2 injection and storage with the In Salah
CCS project in central Algeria being a world-pioneering
onshore CO2 capture and storage project, which has built
up a wealth of experience highly relevant to CCS projects
worldwide (4).
MOROCCO
(92)
TUNISIA
(37)
SYRIA
(46)
IRAQ
IRAN (828)
(216)
ALGERIA (219)
LIBYA (103)
JORDAN
(36)
EGYPT (329)
KUWAIT
(143)
QATAR (100)
UAE
(263)
0-249 250-499 500-749 750-1000 MtCO2PA
FIGURE 15: GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ACROSS THE MENA REGION
DJBOUTI (1)
The potential for CCS growth in the MENA region is driven by multiple factors:
SAUDI ARABIA
(638)
OMAN
(82)
YEMEN (22)
Different MENA countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, and Iran have explicitly included
CCS in their nationally determined contribution (NDC) registry maintained by the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (5).
The announced commitment to net-zero and emissions targets. The UAE and Saudi Arabia announced their net-
zero target by 2050 and 2060, respectively. Oman has set a net-zero target by 2050, Qatar has committed to
emissions reductions of 25 per cent by 2030 and Bahrain 30 per cent by 2035 (6).
The launch of the Saudi Arabian and Middle East Green Initiatives.
The increasing potential for the MENA region to be a hub of low carbon hydrogen (7).
Future industrialisation plans with a major focus on clean and sustainable industries (8).
The region has the required geological formation and expertise in managing subsurface injection of CO2.
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GLOBAL CCS
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