Six major Korean firms tie up with Petronas for carbon biz

South Korea’s six biggest companies joined hands with Malaysia’s state energy firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) for the carbon capture and storage (CCS) business to create the first hub for the business in Asia.

Samsung Engineering Co., Samsung Heavy Industries Co., SK Energy Co., SK Earthon Co., Lotte Chemical Corp. and GS Energy Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding with Petronas on Tuesday to cooperate on a CCS project between the countries.

The project is to capture carbon dioxide emitted from South Korean industrial complexes, collect it in hubs in the Northeast Asian country and transport it to marine facilities in Malaysia for storage there. Those seven companies also agreed to explore other areas across the entire CCS value chain.

Samsung Engineering is set to lead the project development, while SK Energy, South Korea’s top refiner, Lotte Chemical and GS Energy plan to handle carbon capture. Samsung Heavy Industries will transport the carbon. Petronas and SK Earthon, SK group’s oil exploration and production unit, will be in charge of the exploration, selection and operation of storage sites in Malaysia.

These companies agreed to undertake conceptual and feasibility studies before starting the project.

“The feasibility studies undertaken through this collaboration will identify suitable technologies for the CCS and transportation value chain,” said Emry Hisham, Petronas’ head of carbon management, in a statement.

The project is economical as it handles carbon emitted by several companies at once, boosting efficiency in the process and transportation and helping carbon management at the national level, according to the participants of the project.

The participants aim to expand the business by attracting more South Korean companies as the country does not have enough storage sites for carbon.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at kkm1026@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.