Recognising the importance of the role that In Salah could play in advancing secure and economic storage of CO₂, the gas operators established an international Joint Industry Project (JIP). The JIP runs an extensive CO₂ monitoring and verification programme; the findings are shared widely with the scientific community, regulators, policy makers and NGOs to advance CCS as an important climate change mitigation technology.

The JIP has three objectives:

• To provide assurance that secure geological storage of CO₂ can be verified cost-effectively and that long-term assurance can be provided by short-term monitoring.
• To demonstrate to stakeholders that industrial-scale geological storage of CO₂ is a viable greenhouse gas mitigation option.
• To set precedents for the regulation and verification of the geological storage of CO₂, allowing eligibility for greenhouse credits.

In recognition of the project’s importance the JIP receives assistance from the US Department of Energy, the EU Directorate of Research and collaborates with leading technology providers from around the world.

The JIP recently completed the first phase of its work - 2004 to 2010. Click here for Learning Highlights from Phase One and for an overview of work to be undertaken in Phase Two.