Hydrogen is currently in vogue as the ultimate low carbon, sustainable energy solution. World consumption is predicted to grow eight-fold from around 70 million tonnes annually today to more than 550 million tonnes by 2050. Over 90% of current hydrogen supply comes from fossil fuels but given the ambitious global net zero targets where will all this future hydrogen supply come from? Finding a new way to produce hydrogen which does not require significant energy input nor emit CO2 yet is commercially viable is therefore extremely important for the World. Natural/geologic hydrogen which is generated within the Earth by on-going geological processes is being suggested as one such source.
Until recently even the concept of naturally occurring hydrogen on the Earth was deemed impossible given its reactive nature, low atomic weight and its extremely small molecular size. Consequently, the exploration for natural hydrogen is still very much in its infancy. What we do know is that natural hydrogen certainly exists at the Earth’s surface as seepages or as low pressure/low volume accumulations. However, can it be found trapped as a free gas at depth with pressures sufficient for commercial flow rates using existing drilling technologies? This talk will discuss current examples of natural hydrogen exploration but will focus on a project where reservoir burial depths are greater than 3 kilometres and subsurface temperatures approaching 100°C. It will illustrate using the 1963 Monzón-1 well in northern Spain what a by-passed natural hydrogen discovery looks like and how by using existing oil/gas technologies the discovery could form the basis for Europe’s first commercial natural hydrogen development.
The one take away from this lecture should be that natural/geologic hydrogen exists, it can be explored for and hopefully produced commercially by leveraging existing oil/gas people and technologies.
Chris has over 40 years’ experience in the energy/resource sector initially working for Shell and then Atlantic Richfield in their reservoir research divisions and ultimately as the Exploration Vice President of ARCO Europe/Eurasia before the merger with BP plc. In 2001 Chris left big oil and co-founded the predecessor of Serica Energy plc which today is one of the top ten oil and gas producers in the UK North Sea. In 2018 he co-founded Helios Aragon which is exploring for natural/geologic hydrogen and helium gas in Spain, UK, Poland, Australia and Oman. Chris also currently acts as a non-executive director of Lime Petroleum in Norway and is the Chairman and board member for Masirah Oil in Oman. Chris is a member of the SPE Singapore section, a past president and life member of SEAPEX (Southeast Asian Petroleum Exploration Society) and spent several years as an active council member of the IPA (Indonesian Petroleum Association).
Chris holds both a BSc and PhD in Geology from the University of Wales, UK and has published numerous scientific articles throughout his career.