US supermajor ExxonMobil and Indonesia’s state oil and gas company Pertamina are advancing their plans for a $2 billion-plus carbon capture and storage hub in the Java Sea offshore Indonesia with capacity of up to 3 gigatonnes (3 billion tonnes) of CO2.

The companies last week agreed to continue their collaborative evaluation of the western part of the Java Sea, specifically in the Asri and Sunda basins. The CCS hub in this location is expected to offer significant geological storage for captured CO2 from carbon-intensive domestic and regional industries.

The in-place heads of agreement defines the next steps for the proposed project including concept selection, pre-front end engineering and design, and a subsurface work programme.

“The [amended] agreement… marks a significant step in Indonesia's journey as a leader in emissions reduction,” commented the nation’s interim Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Erick Thohir.

“The cutting-edge technology behind the CCS hub will not only reduce emissions and promote low-carbon industries, but also create jobs and attract investment."

Pertamina and ExxonMobil in November last year at the G20 summit in Bali signed the original HOA for the CCS hub. This agreement built on the joint study and memorandum of understanding signed a year ago prior at COP 26 to assess CCS technologies, low-carbon hydrogen and geologic data.

The initial work under the MoU is understood to have included the evaluation of depleted reservoirs on Pertamina’s working areas in Indonesia and the potential for hubs and cluster schemes that could offer both storage and significant volumes of CO2.

ExxonMobil earlier noted that this international collaboration supports Indonesia’s 2060 net-zero ambition.

Jack P Williams, senior vice president, ExxonMobil, said: "We are proud to collaborate with Pertamina and the Indonesian government on these transformative projects. Together, we could reduce emissions and drive economic growth in Indonesia and the entire region."

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