​Dubai, Nov 6 (IANS) Two United Arab Emirates (UAE) companies announced on Saturday that they launched the first commercial-scale carbon capture, utilisation storage (CCUS) facility in the Middle East and North Africa.

The energy research and investment company Masdar and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), both government-controlled entities, said the CCUS facility "is now operational and aims to sequester up to 800,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year".

With its construction started in July 2013, the project is one of the only 22 large-scale CCUS ventures, either in operation or under construction worldwide, and the first to capture carbon dioxide from iron and steel works, Xinhua news agency reported.