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- Emirati energy giant ADNOC said it had awarded contracts to build a major gas project just weeks before the UAE hosts the COP28 climate conference.
- The UN climate conference, which opens in Dubai on 30 November, is being chaired by ADNOC head Sultan Al Jaber.
- ADNOC said the project includes decarbonisation technologies to capture and store 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
- For climate change news and analysis, go to News24 Climate Future.
Emirati energy giant ADNOC said Thursday it had awarded contracts to build a major gas project, just weeks before the Gulf state hosts the COP28 climate conference.
The company said it would invest in the Hail and Ghasha offshore fields, pledging that it would be the "world's first project that aims to operate with net zero emissions".
But its "net zero" promise was met with derision from the Climate Action Tracker research group, which charged that it was "completely misleading".
The two contracts, signed on the final day of the Abu Dhabi Energy Show, had a total estimated value of $16.9 billion, ADNOC said.
Construction work on the site has been entrusted to a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Company and Saipem of Italy.
Another Italian company, Tecnimont, will be responsible for onshore infrastructure.
ADNOC said the project includes "innovative decarbonisation technologies" to capture and store 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
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The Hail and Ghasha projects are part of the Ghasha concession in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which aims to produce nearly 42.5 million cubic metres of gas per day by 2030.
"ADNOC will continue to responsibly unlock its gas resources to enable gas self-sufficiency for the UAE, grow our export capacity and support global energy security," it said.
Mia Moisio of the Climate Action Tracker group said that labelling a fossil gas project as net zero was completely misleading, even if referring only to operational emissions.
"There is no such thing as emissions-free fossil fuel projects," she said. "The majority of emissions from fossil fuels result from their combustion, not their operations."
In a report published in September, the group's experts highlighted the UAE's "dependency on gas for electricity", expressing concern about the COP28 host's commitment to carbon capture.
The UN climate conference, which opens in Dubai on 30 November, is being chaired by ADNOC head Sultan Al Jaber.
His appointment to the post has drawn criticism from environmentalists, who denounce the role of the hydrocarbon sector in global warming.
At the opening of the Abu Dhabi conference on Monday, Jaber said the industry was "at the heart of the solution" to climate change, calling on industry representatives to "silence the sceptics".
He reiterated that the gradual phase-out of fossil fuels was "inevitable and essential", while emphasising the global economy's dependence on oil, gas and coal.
ADNOC made a commitment in July to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 for its own operations.
But the target does not take into account the indirect emissions produced by the hydrocarbons exported and burned by its customers, which account for the vast majority of its carbon footprint.
