Saudi Aramco eyes 'larger share’ in blue hydrogen market: report

Saudi Aramco Chief Technology Officer Ahmad Al-Khowaiter

Saudi Aramco will hold a “larger share” of the blue hydrogen market, Bloomberg reported, citing Chief Technology Officer Ahmad Al-Khowaiter.

“The scale-up isn’t going to happen before 2030. We’re not going to see large volumes of blue ammonia before then,” he said.

The company may spend nearly $1 billion on capturing carbon for each one million tons of blue ammonia produced, excluding the expense of producing gasoline.

However, Saudi Aramco must make offers with buyers earlier than investments in blue hydrogen can start properly, said Al-Khowaiter.

“From the time you clarify off-take agreements, you’re speaking a few five- to six-year capital cycle to spend money on the manufacturing and conversion necessities,” he said, adding the time scale can be “pretty long.”

Meanwhile, the company is looking into synergies between the two varieties of hydrogen.

Al-Khowaiter emphasized that the cost of producing blue hydrogen is nearly around one-fifth of the cost of green hydrogen, at least at today’s solar and wind prices.