Japan’s oil sector steps up interest in CCS

Companies urge government to finalise carbon-capture roadmap and legal frameworks

Some of Japan’s biggest oil and gas companies are ramping up interest in carbon capture and storage (CCS), but efforts have been held back to an extent by the government’s slow progress in establishing the legal rights that would underpin commercialisation. Last October, Japan unveiled a target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. But the world’s sixth-largest carbon polluter does not expect to launch its first CCS project until the end of the decade, according to an outline of a long-term roadmap for commercialising CCS technologies released recently by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti). The ministry is scheduled to issue an interim summary of the roadmap shortly, with fina