Economy Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Rafizi Ramli (fifth left), Zafer Mustafaoğlu (fourth left), the World Bank’s country director for the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei, and delegates launching a joint report by the World Bank and the Ministry of Economy, titled ‘A Fresh Take on Reducing Inequality and Enhancing Mobility in Malaysia’, on Wednesday. (Photo by Zahid Izzani/The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 5): The Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) Progressive Regulatory Framework Bill is set to be tabled in Parliament in early March, according to Economy Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Rafizi Ramli.

“The target remains to table it in this parliamentary sitting by the first week of March. We are finalising the drafting, and making improvements based on stakeholder feedback. So, the goal is still to finalise it,” he told reporters on Wednesday, after the public launch of a joint report by the World Bank and the Ministry of Economy, titled A Fresh Take on Reducing Inequality and Enhancing Mobility in Malaysia.

Initially slated for tabling in November last year, the CCUS Bill aims to regulate the capture, transportation, utilisation, and permanent storage of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), both within Malaysia and from international sources.

CCUS is one of six key decarbonisation levers under the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), launched in July 2023. Flagship projects under the NETR are expected to attract more than RM25 billion in investments across the six levers. The Bill is particularly crucial for high-emission industries, such as oil and gas, steel, and cement, where carbon reduction remains a challenge.

The government has signed several memoranda of understanding with other countries to build momentum for a bidding round for CCUS projects, which could generate over 200,000 jobs and add around US$250 billion (RM1 trillion) in gross value over the next 30 years, Rafizi said at the opening ceremony of Oil & Gas Asia in September last year.

Among the notable partnerships, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has teamed up with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and UK-based Storegga to jointly study and develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities in the Penyu Basin, offshore Peninsular Malaysia. The collaboration aims to achieve a minimum of five million tonnes per annum of CO2 capture and storage capacity by 2030.