Oman’s 44.01 eyes global carbon storage growth

Award‑winning Omani climate tech company 44.01 is scaling its carbon mineralisation technology into industrial storage applications and new international markets, the firm's co‑founders said. The company has begun work with a Holcim‑owned cement plant in Fujairah, is pursuing projects in Norway and the Faroe Islands, and is seeking customers and investment to support wider deployment, while retaining Oman as its largest operational base with roughly 35 employees of a total workforce exceeding 65 across five territories.

“Oman is actually one of the best places to build a deep tech company,” said Talal Hasan, Founder and CEO of 44.01. “If we can do it, others can do it too.”

Technology and early demonstrations

44.01's process accelerates natural mineralisation by mixing carbon dioxide with water and injecting the mixture into suitable rock formations where it reacts with minerals to form stable carbonate rock. The firm's first pilot drew on years of academic research into the Samayil Ophiolite in Oman. After securing an initial permit and using an existing well at a previously studied site, subsequent testing indicated injected CO2 had mineralised within 45 days — a marked acceleration of a process that normally takes much longer in nature.

Key demonstrations have included a nine‑month site developed for ADNOC in Fujairah ahead of COP28, where around 10 tonnes of CO2 were injected over four weeks as a paid demonstration project. The Holcim‑owned cement plant project in Fujairah captures CO2 from a flue stack, liquefies it and transports it by truck to an injection site; Karan Khimji, Chief Commercial Officer, said about 60 tonnes had already been injected there. These efforts establish a full industrial decarbonisation chain linking capture, transport and permanent mineral storage.

Intellectual property, investors and partnerships

44.01 has built a substantial IP position with approximately 25 granted patents and around 40 patent filings, alongside technology licensed from other organisations. The company named Breakthrough Energy, Apollo and Equinor among its largest investors, and listed Air Liquide and Sumitomo as strategic backers. Khimji noted Equinor—lead investor in the company's Series A—views mineralisation as complementary to conventional geological storage.

• Operational footprint: Oman (largest base) plus UAE, Norway, Faroe Islands and additional territories under assessment
• Workforce: ~35 employees in Oman, >65 across five territories
• Patents: ~25 granted, ~40 filings
• Demonstrations: ~10 tonnes injected in ADNOC Fujairah demo; ~60 tonnes injected from Holcim cement project

Outlook

44.01 is compiling geological data from partners and investors to identify overseas formations suitable for rapid deployment and is pursuing both industrial storage contracts and carbon credit projects in Fujairah as diversified revenue streams. “We can take the technology that we’ve developed here and export that to the world,” Khimji said, highlighting the firm’s strategy to translate pilots into commercial services across Europe and beyond. The company continues to seek additional investment to support this expansion while promoting the potential commercial value of decarbonised industrial products — a dynamic Hasan illustrated by describing an unnamed Omani producer that received offers 30–40% higher after its product was marketed as having captured and mineralised CO2.