MASDAR and ADNOC sign cooperation agreement to reduce carbon emission

Masdar and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) signed yesterday a framework agreement to develop a series of ground-breaking projects to reduce carbon emissions from Abu Dhabi's oil and gas facilities and monetize the emission reduction under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
Masdar is driven by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC), a wholly owned company of the government of Abu Dhabi through the Mubadala Development Company. The partnership will represent a major carbon reduction and monetization initiative for the oil and gas industry in the gulf region.
The CDM, a project-based regulatory mechanism led by the United Nations, provides financial incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in countries that do not have binding reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, by turning emission reductions into tradable assets or 'Certified Emission Reductions' (CERs) or carbon credits.
The agreement allows Masdar to identify and develop a portfolio of CDM projects at ADNOC group companies' facilities in Abu Dhabi on an on-going basis. Five CDM projects are currently under development by ADNOC, with the capacity to reduce four million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, are already in the pipeline for registration at the United Nations by Masdar.
'ADNOC's partnership with Masdar raises the bar for oil companies looking to reduce their carbon footprint. We are proud to work with Masdar such that the CDM can be effectively used to support our efforts to reduce environmental impact and ensure a sustainable future for the industry' said Yousef Omair Bin Yousef, ADNOC's Chief Executive Officer.
As part of the agreement, MASDAR will monitor the life cycle of the CDM projects in ADNOC's portfolio and assure their registration at the United Nations, the monitoring of emissions and the delivery of carbon credits. 'Our agreement with ADNOC is a step forward towards fulfilling the Abu Dhabi leadership's directives to reduce carbon emissions," said Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Masdar's Chief Executive Officer.
Introducing the CDM at ADNOC is an important step into building a successful and sustainable low carbon economy in Abu Dhabi and ADNOC facilities present a tremendous opportunity for Masdar to deliver on one of its missions-, to become a carbon emission reduction solution provider at home,' added Al Jaber. There are a number of CDM projects in the pipeline waiting for UN registration.
In Das Island, a natural gas flaring will be reduced by installing a new pipeline to recover the excess fuel and flash gases which will be reused as fuel. The ADGAS project will utilize the flared gas as fuel. Consequently, it will reduce carbon dioxide emission as well as the need for fuel.
The Takreer project will conserve the previously flared gas streams at the Ruwais refinery at Takreer. The collected gases will be compressed and sent to the fuel gas system in order to partially replace the natural gas imported from a nearby gas field.
The FERTIL project, the first of its kind in the Arab world, will recover the carbon dioxide emissions from flue gases generated due to fuel burning, to convert ammonia into urea in FERTIL's Ammonia/Urea plant in Ruwais.
The GASCO project will install energy efficient seals on the ground flare systems of the gas processing complexes at Bab, Buhasa and Asab to reduce fuel gas consumption needed to purge the flare header and avoid air entrance.
The GASCO project will recover the previously flared waste gases generated from the gas processing complex at Habshan. The recovered gases will partially replace the imported fuel gas, thus CO2 emission will decrease and additional fuel will be available to the other consumers.