Natural hydrogen (H2) is sometimes called native hydrogen, geological hydrogen, or "white or gold" hydrogen. Hydrogen is a naturally occurring, odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas. (The assigned colors are just a construct to designate the source of the gas.) Emissions of natural hydrogen occur all over the world and have been know since Roman times. "The Eternal Flames" at Mount Chimaera in southwestern Turkey is a natural seepage of 10% hydrogen and 87% methane.
The presence of natural hydrogen has been confirmed in the Pyrenean foreland, the Jura, and Lorraine. As of December 2023, TBH2 Aquitaine was the first company to be granted a hydrogen exploration licence in France and there were an additional five licenses under investigation (Le Monde, 2023).
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) kicked off a research and development program in Australia in 2018 leading to revisions to the Energy and Resources Act and Regulations in South Australia in 2021. In the US, the first well targeting natural hydrogen was drilled in Nebraska by Natural Hydrogen Energy LLC in 2019.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) began investigating natural hydrogen resources in 2021. In 2024, active exploration campaigns are ongoing in Australia, Brazil, Colombia, the US, and various countries in Europe and Asia.
In a recent submission to the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Geoffery Ellis, the USGS lead hydrogen geologist, suggested that the probable distribution of in-place, global geologic hydrogen resources estimates was likely to have "an approximate mean value in the tens of millions of Mt." However, he also noted that the vast majority of the in-place hydrogen is likely to be in accumulations that are too deep, too far offshore, or too small to be economically recovered. "However," he added, "the remainder could constitute a significant resource."
Natural hydrogen is produced through natural, chemical, and/or biological processes, seemingly within an optimum temperature window for each process. They describe two conceptual models for the total natural hydrogen systems in the subsurface.
Here the generation of hydrogen is driven by serpentinization and/or radiolysis at relatively low temperatures (less than 100⁰C or 212⁰F), with water supplied by local hydraulic recharge or tidal pumping. The H2 generation process may be further enhanced in an existing fracture network or faults.
The elevated temperatures are caused by deep burial and/or thermal events, which facilitate pyrolysis of organic matter or hydrocarbons. Such thermal conditions predominantly exist in extensional tectonic regimes, especially where thinning of the crust leads to high thermal gradients. These areas are also prone to magmatic thermal events or intrusions. Furthermore, these conditions are more likely to develop deep-seated faults, which serve as conduits for hydrogen originating from mantle degassing.
With either model, as the hydrogen tries to migrate to surface it may accumulate in structural (Figs. 1 and 2: 1, 2, 3) or stratigraphic (Figs. 1 and 2: 4) traps in the adjacent rocks or be absorbed by clay minerals (Figs. 1 and 2: 5). Due to the small size and extremely mobile properties of hydrogen molecules, almost any porous or naturally fractured rock is a potential storage reservoir. So, natural hydrogen accumulations may occur in sedimentary or nonsedimentary reservoir rocks or as absorbed gas in thick shales.
Ross Crain states that petrophysical properties of natural hydrogen and hydronium are poorly understood. Potential hydrogen-bearing zones may be difficult to distinguish from water-bearing zones, except by mudlogging, but they will usually lead to a positive C1 reading. In new wells, gas chromatography can be used to confirm the H2 content in the drilling fluid returns.
The skid-mounted test separator and temporary flowlines will be like those used for any other well test, however, the equipment specifications may be different from those used in gas-well testing, if high concentrations hydrogen are anticipated, as in Mali.
Extended well testing to define the reservoir limits and/or the hydrogen recharge rates should ideally be carried out in a way that the energy is not wasted. In Mali, Hydroma used a portable generator to convert the produced fluids to electricity. Interestingly, Maiga et al. reported that after 11 years of production, there appeared to be a ±10% increase in reservoir pressure from 450 to 500 kPa (65 to 73 psi) in the pressure of the shallow zone that was on production.
Exploration and production for natural hydrogen requires many of the same skills and techniques as petroleum and mineral exploration. Hence, petroleum scientists and economists can contribute and transfer skills into natural hydrogen exploration.
Robert (Bob) Pearson, SPE, is an independent petroleum engineering advisor. He has extensive experience including field development planning and production engineering for onshore, shelf, and deepwater projects, as well as completions design for conventional and unconventional wells.
After working for 13 years for major operators, he has spent the past 40 years working as a consultant in Canada, Singapore, and Australia. He is currently dividing his time between Canada and the UK and provides advisory and peer-review services through Glynn Resources Ltd.
He joined the SPE Aberdeen Section in 1975 and was the 2019–2022 SPE Technical Director for Production & Facilities, and a former SPE Distinguished Lecturer. He currently serves as PetroWiki Interface on the board of the SPE Hydrogen Technical Section.
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