ADNOC makes second ammonia sale to Japan

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) and its Fertiglobe joint venture with Dutch fertiliser producer OCI said August 10 it agreed to sell blue ammonia to Japan.

ADNOC sold the UAE's first cargo of blue ammonia to Itochu in Japan on August 3. The latest sale is to Japanese energy company Idemitsu, which will use the product for its refining and petrochemical operations.

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“Ammonia can be used as a low-carbon fuel across a wide range of industrial applications, including transportation, power generation, refining and industries including steel, wastewater treatment, cement and fertilizer production,” ADNOC explained. “For Japan, in particular, hydrogen and its carrier fuels, such as blue ammonia, are expected to play an important role in the country’s ongoing industrial decarbonisation efforts.”

As with the previous sale, the ammonia will be produced at Fertiglobe's Fertil plant in the Ruwais, capable of producing 1.2mn metric tons of ammonia and 2.1mn mt of urea annually.

ADNOC announced in May it would build a 1mn mt/yr blue ammonia production plant in Ruwais. It plans to re-inject the resulting CO₂ emissions from the production process into oilfield reservoirs to boost pressure.

Fertiglobe signed up to help develop the project in June, and the following month, ADNOC signed a joint study agreement with Japan's Inpex Corp, Jera and Jogmec on blue ammonia production in the UAE.

And just last week, Malaysia's Petronas said it would join with Itochu to explore the feasibility of building a US$1.3bn blue ammonia plant in Alberta that would draw on Petronas' extensive Montney natural gas reserves, combined with nitrogen, to produce ammonia. Captured CO₂ would be sequestered. The two are studying plant costs and transportation options to determine financial feasibility; if the project goes ahead, construction could begin in 2023, with production beginning in 2027.

The blue ammonia would be used for thermal power generation in Japan, and in steel and chemical production. Japan has said it wants to secure 30mn metric tons of ammonia by 2050 to advance its net-zero ambitions.