In Salah Gas project is a joint venture between BP, Sonatrach, the Algerian state energy company and Statoil. Located in the remote Saharan desert in southern Algeria, it is one of the largest dry gas joint development projects in the country.

Economic development in Central Sahara

Despite the significant environmental and logistical challenges, the first phase of the $2.7 billion project at In Salah Gas is paving the way for other developments in the Central Sahara. Because of this large investment at In Salah, Statoil and BP have become Algeria’s largest foreign investors. Sonatrach, Statoil and BP contribute to Algeria’s economic development beyond the specific gas and energy production from In Salah. All three companies work in tandem with the Algerian government on a number of social investment programmes.

Social investment programmes

One example of the programmes is a clean water production and purification facility that provides nearly 6,000 litres of drinking water a day to the residents of the remote Saharan community of In Salah – the closest town to the Krechba treatment plant some 200 kilometres away. In addition a 3.5 kilometre pipeline with seven water distribution points has been built to assure a safe water supply for the nearby town of Hassi Ghanem.

In Salah Gas is committed to bettering the educational and vocational prospects of residents of In Salah and the surrounding region. Through programs initiated by the joint venture between Sonatrach, Statoil and BP, local residents are able to study English at three sponsored English language training centres at In Salah, El Golea and Djanet. The centres also provide teachers with up-to-date books and educational materials. A modern multimedia library, equipped with books, multimedia learning tools, and internet terminals was opened at In Salah in January 2007. The community library has separate wings for adults and children, and provides employment for 15 local part-time library staff members.

Environmental benefits

It is normal industry practice to vent CO₂ separated from natural gas into the atmosphere. At In Salah, up to one million tonnes of CO₂, annually, are being prevented from entering the atmosphere.

In addition emissions from combustion, flaring and venting are being minimalised. Other measures include: preventing the discharge of chemicals, hydrocarbon-containing liquids and drilling fluids; minimising land-take; and reducing waste generation – 60% of all solid waste generation at the sites is recycled through a process of collection and segregation.

CDM methodology

The In Salah Gas Joint Venture has submitted a proposed approach for including carbon dioxide capture and geological storage (CCS) technologies in the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The submission – consisting of a New Methodology and a draft Project Design Document – draws on the JV’s experience with the In Salah CCS project and builds significantly on previous methodological proposals for CCS under the CDM.

The submission demonstrates how CDM methodological issues – in particular project boundary, leakage and permanence – can be systematically and comprehensively addressed by CCS projects under current CDM. It also highlights how technical and legal aspects of a CCS project may be structured within the United Nations climate change framework. In particular the submission proposes methods for selecting CO₂ geological storage sites and accounting for the permanence of emission reductions achieved from CCS. The proposed approach provides valuable input into the ongoing debate around CCS and CDM, as well as providing important guidelines for the design of future enabling mechanisms for CCS deployment.

Click to download the CDM methodology