Manama—Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto; Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo) and Bapco Energies B.S.C. (Bapco Energies; Group CEO: Mark Thomas; Headquarters: Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain) today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of cross-border carbon dioxide (CO2) transport and sequestration with the goal of establishing a carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) (Note 1) value chain, where MOL provides marine transportation of liquified CO2 and Bapco Energies provides the sequestration sites.

CCS is regarded as one in a series of important initiatives to realize a low-carbon/decarbonized economy. MOL and Bapco Energies will jointly conduct detailed studies with a view to collaborating on the future establishment of a CCS value chain consisting of separation, capture, transport, injection and storage of CO2.

“As a developer and a provider of social infrastructure services in addition traditional shipping, MOL is honored and excited to have an opportunity to collaborate with Bapco Energies. We believe there is a significant synergy in our cooperation to create CCS value chain, also to become a bridge between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Asia-Pacific regions,” said Takeshi Hashimoto, president & CEO of MOL.

“We have recently concluded a study confirming that the Kingdom of Bahrain's CO2 storage capacity exceeds its needs to meet its Net-Zero target by 2060. This opened exciting opportunities for us, including the development of cross-border CO2 transportation and storage. This collaboration with MOL underscores our unwavering dedication to achieving a low-carbon future in line with the Kingdom of Bahrain's climate targets." said Mark Thomas, Group CEO of Bapco Energies.

(Note 1) CCS: Technology to capture CO2 from exhaust gas and store it underground.