KUALA LUMPUR: Bumi Armada Bhd
has inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Navigator Holdings Ltd to establish a joint venture to provide CO2 shipping and injection solutions in the UK.
The Bluestreak CO2 joint venture is to be held in equal stakes by offshore services provider Bumi Armada and Navigator, the owner and operator of the world's largest fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers.
Bumi Armada said it is anticipated that the Bluestreak CO2 Joint Venture will design and implement a value chain of shuttle tankers delivering to a floating carbon storage and injection unit.
"The complete value chain is expected to safely and reliably transport and provide buffer storage of liquid carbon dioxide.
"The CO2 is intended to be subsequently injected into offshore storage aquifers and/or depleted oil and gas reservoirs in a controlled manner with full surveillance and management of the permanent storage location," it said in a statement.
This approach is anticipated to allow the Bluestreak CO2 joint venture to serve emitters with no access to pipeline infrastructure, to effectively manage their CO2 emissions.
In the same statement, Bumi Armada's CEO Gary Christenson said the strategic partnership is in line with the group's recently launched decarbonisation agenda to achieve net zero by 2050.
Separately, Bumi Armada said its Armada Kraken floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel has returned to about 60% of pre-shutdown level following the recent start-up.
The group said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that it is continuing with further work, testing and investigations to stabilise and bring the vessel's operational performance back to pre-shutdown level.
On June 2, 2023, Bumi Armada announced that the Kraken FPSO had been shut-in following he failure of critical hydraulic submersible pump transformers.
It said the shut-in and future reduced level of production was likely to reduce bareboat charter contract revenue earned by the FPSO.
"Given the current uncertainties, the financial impact of this incident cannot be reliably estimated at this point, but is expected to be material for Bumi Armada," it said in the June 2, 2023, filing with Bursa Malaysia.
