As a major producer and significant consumer of fossil fuel, the GCC region has some of the most intensive emitters per capita in the world, and accounts for a tenth of the world’s gas reserves. On the fiscal side, GCC remains economically dependent on hydrocarbons despite the recent progress on diversification. The region has however excellent conditions for CCS/CCUS: well-understood subsurface, concentrations of heavily emitting industries in close proximity to huge reservoirs in offshore shallow waters or onshore in sparsely populated deserts. The long history of the hydrocarbons industry and financial backing of the NOCs also favours the potential development of CCS/CCUS.

While CO₂ emissions from the GCC account for 3% of global emissions, the region has been a quick adopter of decarbonization technologies such as CCS and CCUS with a current capacity of around 4.7 mtpa and plans to reach 60 mtpa by 2030. In the short to medium term, GCC countries have the technical potential to capture 10 mtpa of CO₂ by 2028 of which 50% for enhanced oil recovery or geological storage, and the remaining as feedstock for various industrial processes. This presents an opportunity for the region to reduce its energy and industrial emissions, which account for 60% of the region’s total emissions.

On the policy side, there are a few challenges. MENA countries do not have a carbon pricing mechanisms and fossil fuel subsidies across GCC countries disincentivise CCUS uptake. It is true that most countries in the MENA region have introduced climate policies, but not CCUS specific policies. They do not have a regulation on CO₂ specification and lack of transparency and statistical figures on carbon emissions.

GCC also lacks specific regulations for private sector access to national oil company-owned (NOCs) pipelines and infrastructure. However, in some cases, such as with Saudi Aramco and ADNOC, third-party access rights or capacity expansion may be granted on a contractual basis. 

The nascent CCUS regulatory landscape creates an opportunity for companies and governments to pioneer cross-border CCUS policy cooperation, including establishing carbon pricing and/or trading schemes, carbon credits for CO₂ sequestration, and other incentives.