Omani research well burping hydrogen

When Professor Alexis Temple­ton from the University of Colorado con­ducted a techno-economic analysis on stimulated hydrogen, the results suggested that generating profitable volumes of gas is nearly impossible. Still, she pushed for a pilot well to be drilled to compare theoretical calcula­tions and lab experiments with reality. The field results exceeded everyone’s expectations, not in the least Alexis’ own; stimulated hydrogen is within closer reach than anticipated.

The pilot well is located in Oman, a country with an ophiolite belt as its backbone. Serpentinisation reactions between water, olivine and pyroxene within the peridotite generate large volumes of hydrogen. Local hydrother­mal springs degassing hydrogen prove that this process is naturally occurring.

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