GCC's carbon capture projects help firm almost double its CO2 production

Gulf Cryo, the region's largest provider of liquid CO₂, announced that it is on track to significantly expand its regional CO₂ production capacity from 700 metric tonnes per day (MTPD) today to 1,300 MTPD by the end of 2026, equivalent to more than 470,000 metric tonnes annually. In the UAE, capacity will grow to 200 MTPD by the end of the year, equivalent to around 73,000 metric tonnes annually, with the flexibility to ramp up by a further 150 MTPD whenever required.

The expansion is built on a series of long-term carbon capture and recovery projects across the UAE, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, reinforcing Gulf Cryo’s ability to meet current and future market demand while ensuring reliable CO₂ supply across multiple industries.

Each local market is secured by its own production first, underpinned by long-term carbon capture and recovery projects, with the wider regional network available as backup during plant turnarounds, seasonal peaks or upstream disruption.

Gulf Cryo can bring on a further 750 MTPD regionally, 150 MTPD of which is in the UAE, from existing facilities as and when the market requires, taking total capacity beyond 2,000 MTPD, equivalent to around 750,000 metric tonnes annually.

“We have built our CO₂ supply capacity to meet local and regional demand today and secure future requirements,” said Sami Huneidi, Executive Committee Member responsible for Investments at Gulf Cryo. “As the region’s largest provider of liquid CO₂, our strategy is to build strong local production capabilities while maintaining the flexibility and backup of our wider regional network.”

“By the end of this year, our second carbon capture facility in the UAE will become operational, significantly reducing reliance on imports from our plants in neighbouring countries and fully securing the UAE’s CO₂ requirements for the foreseeable future. This new facility has been designed with built-in scalability, allowing us to rapidly increase production capacity whenever market demand requires it,” he added.

“We will continue to invest ahead of demand, leveraging our regional scale and operational efficiencies to provide customers across the UAE and the wider GCC with a reliable and cost-efficient CO₂ supply,” he concluded.

Today, Gulf Cryo operates across 10 countries, with over 50 production sites and one of the region's largest industrial, medical and specialty gas distribution networks. Its CO₂ supply model is built on multiple production sources, strategic storage infrastructure, and an integrated distribution network designed to ensure proximity to customers and resilience during market disruptions.

Gulf Cryo also operates one of the region’s largest fleets of cryogenic tankers and maintains strategic bulk storage at multiple locations, allowing customers in every major GCC market to be served from more than one supply source.

The company’s integrated value chain, spanning carbon recovery, purification, distribution, and downstream utilisation, combined with its economies of scale and regional footprint, supports a circular carbon economy while enabling the company to provide a reliable and cost-efficient CO₂ supply across the GCC.