The production of green hydrogen also demands huge quantities of water. GCC countries rely heavily on desalination for their water needs, including for renewable energy production. Desalination plants are usually energy-intensive and often powered by fossil fuels. In most cases, a by-product of desalination is brine, which increases the salinity of

Another example of commercially viable use of CCUS is CO2-based synthetic fuels, such as “electrofuels” or “e-fuels”. These use captured CO2 and electricity to produce “drop-in” diesel or gasoline, methanol, and similar fuels that can power vehicles, aeroplanes, and ships. EU policies have incentivised CO2-based synthetic fuels, in part

transmission grid to, for example, its European counterpart ENTSO-E. Plans for such an interconnection have gained momentum since a 2021 deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia to link their grids, and another signed in 2023 between the GCC and Swiss company, Hitachi Energy, to boost the existing exchange capacity of the GCC grid by upgrading the Al-Fa

Indeed, with some of the lowest carbon footprints and production costsfor oil in the world, the Gulf monarchies might even increase their market shares in the medium term; they could be subject to up to 50 per cent less in EU carbon tariffs than most competitors, making them the last men standing in fossil fuels. ADNOC and the Saudi Arabian Oil Gro

blue and green hydrogen, energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage (CCS), greenhouse gas reduction, methane gas emissions, and routine gas flaring. Eni is principally involved in enhanced oil recovery and gas extraction in the multi-billion-dollar Ghasha natural gas field, and has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-owned Mubada