The aim of the project will be to contribute to the assessment of the CCUS potential in Saudi Arabia through the assessment of stationary CO2 emissions as well as the cost analysis (separation, capture, and transportation costs involved in CCS). The database for CO2 emissions from stationary sources in the Kingdom includes emissions from electricity generation, desalination, oil refineries, cement industry, petrochemicals, and iron & steel from 2016, that need to be verified and updated with most up-to-date data. The assessment will also include looking at identifying potential storage locations and estimating the capacity of storing CO2 in deep aquifers, depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, and basaltic rocks.

The VSRP student will be involved in data analysis and interpretation in Petrel and, by picking up new ideas and techniques, will be able contribute to the further development of the Petrel/ArcGIS geological model of Saudi Arabia in order to identify and characterize potential CO2 storage sites in the country.
The student will also help in establishing and developing the national carbon storage atlas for KSA. A carbon storage atlas is a comprehensive assessment of all aspects of CCS including CO2 emissions, best practices, and emerging technologies related to carbon capture, transportation, and assessments of storage in potential geological sites and associated costs.

The work may include this section petrography using optical and electron microscopes to characterize rocks for carbon disposal.