In Salah is a pioneering, industrial-scale CCS operation that has been running in Algeria since 2004. More than three million tonnes of CO₂ have already been stored in a deep saline formation almost two kilometres below the Earth’s surface.

The CO₂ is stored as part of a natural gas production process, operated by BP, Sonatrach and Statoil, in the central Algerian Ahnet-Timimoun basin. Operational since 2004, the gas field holds an estimated 160 billion cubic metres of gas and has an expected operational life of 20 years.

As the natural gas contains small amounts of CO₂, it was necessary to separate out the CO₂ to meet purity standards for sale. Rather than vent the CO₂, it was decided to invest $100 million to store it geologically. A Joint Industry Project (JIP) was subsequently set up between the original partners BP and Sonatrach — Algeria’s state oil and gas company — and was later joined by Statoil.

CCS project of international importance

In Salah has been recognised by the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum as one of the most important CCS initiatives in the world. With more than three million tonnes of CO₂ securely stored so far, In Salah counters the misconception that CCS technology is unproven at industrial scale.