Can a Jubail plant subtract CO2 it captures and sells to food or chemical makers from its CBAM figure?
Usually not. CBAM, following EU ETS rules, deducts CO2 only when it is transferred for permanent geological storage or bound in products that keep it permanently. CO2 sold for drinks, food, urea or methanol is released again, so it still counts as emitted by the plant that captured it.
When CO2 can be subtracted
- Transferred to a permitted geological storage site.
- Chemically bound in a product that keeps it permanently under normal use, as defined in EU rules.
When it cannot
- Food and drink grade CO2.
- CO2 used to make urea, methanol or other fuels and chemicals that release it later.
What to keep
Metered quantities of CO2 captured and transferred, the receiving company, and its use. Even when no deduction applies, buyers value the record as evidence of lower process emissions elsewhere.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads gas, fuel and electricity invoices into a dated, fingerprinted record per site and keeps lab reports and production logs beside them, so each figure can be traced to its documents.
Sources: CBAM Regulation (EU) 2023/956, consolidated, EUR-Lex, EU law, European Commission, CBAM legislation and guidance
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.