Green oil Saudi Arabia wants to become the world's largest exporter of hydrogen

For a long time, the sale of oil and gas was considered one of the most lucrative business models in the world. But this has not been the case for some time. Instead, the companies active in this branch are under increasing pressure. Many - such as the Shell oil company - are therefore investing heavily in the field of renewable energies. Otherwise they face a penalty on the stock exchange. The vast majority of investors do not believe in a rosy future for fossil fuels. What applies to a simple oil company like Shell, of course, applies twice to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Because the country is by far the largest

oil exporter in the world. In addition, Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, is also based in the kingdom.

Oil and gas production should become more climate-friendly

It has therefore long been clear to the government's leadership that the economy will have to be restructured sooner or later. When the country took over the chairmanship of the G20 group for the first time, this was used for a big announcement: In the future, Saudi Arabia wants to produce climate-friendly oil and gas. On the other hand, the country also wants to become the largest hydrogen exporter in the world. The first point is based on the concept of the so-called Circular Carbon Economy (CCE). The first step is to reduce CO2 emissions from the extraction and use of fossil fuels. At the same time, however, CO2 should also be filtered from the atmosphere and stored in the former storage facilities. Reuse in synthetic fuels or as part of building materials would also be conceivable.

Blue and green hydrogen are the oil of the future

The goal of these measures: at some point, more CO2 should be filtered out of the air than is released by burning oil and gas. Until then, however, there is still some research to be done. The fact that Saudi Arabia would now like to spend additional money here should definitely speed up development work. In addition, the country also wants to rebuild its own energy export. Blue hydrogen is already being produced today and delivered to Japan. Because the energy required is obtained from natural gas, however, it is not a climate-neutral process. This is set to change from 2025 onwards. The first plant that uses solar energy to produce hydrogen will then go into operation in the huge planned city of Neon. The country then wants to sell this so-called “green hydrogen” worldwide.