PERSPECTIVE

NEW PERSPECTIVES IN THE INDUSTRIAL EXPLORATION FOR NATIVE HYDROGEN

Eric C. Gaucher1
DOI: 10.2138/gselements.16.1.8 Geologists should now adopt the tripartite concept of “source rock,
reservoir, and trap” in the exploration for native hydrogen and abiotic
Hydrogen gas (H2 ), when combusted, produces heat and water. There is gases. Some important parts of the native hydrogen system are already
no pollution, just water vapor. When hydrogen combines with oxygen, known. Three main types of source rocks have already been identified:
there is no generation of carbon dioxide, no production of cyclic hydro­ (1) ultrabasic rocks; (2) iron-rich cratons; (3) uranium-rich rocks. For
carbons, no sulfur oxides (SOx), no nitrogen oxides (NOx), no ozone the first two sources, the production of H2 is linked to the oxidation of
cogeneration. It seems that hydrogen, along with efficient energy pro­ Fe(II) by H2O. For the third source, the production of H2 is attributable
duction, solves many of our pollution problems, from urban air pol­ to the radiolysis of H2O by natural radioactivity. The transformation
lution to global warming. In the so-called Hydrogen Age of the future of H 2 into abiotic CH4 can occur under some circumstances through
(Holland and Provenzano 2007), H 2 will be mainly produced by the the Sabatier or Fischer–Tropsch reactions (Reeves and Fiebig 2020 this
electrolysis of water using electricity that itself is derived from renew­ issue). This means that detection of abiotic methane may be a useful
able energy sources or nuclear power plants. Steam methane reforming indicator for the presence of native hydrogen.
(a catalyzed reaction at high temperature where CH4 is combined with
water to produce CO2 and H 2 ) will only be acceptable as a source of H2 If we follow a discovery pathway analogous to that of the petroleum
if it is associated with low-cost CO2 storage. But, in this future energy industry, the first method of exploration may be to find H2 seeps in
landscape, what is the role of naturally occurring hydrogen, sometimes areas where source rocks are known. Seeps of native hydrogen and abi­
referred to as native hydrogen? otic gases have already been localized in numerous places in subaerial
settings. At least one of these seeps has been known since antiquity:
There has been a persistent idea in the petroleum industry that native Mount Chimaera (Yanartaş, Turkey), which is known for its “eternal
hydrogen does not exist. This paradigm is clearly a response to the scar­ fires”. Ctesias is the oldest traceable author describing the phenomenon
city of H2 in the millions of wells drilled for oil and natural gas in sedi­ and is cited by Pliny the Elder in his second book of Historia Naturalis
mentary basins. In 2002, Nigel J.P. Smith from the British Geological (77 AD). The gas at Mount Chimaera is a mixture of abiotic CH4 (87
Survey claimed in the journal First Break, “It is time for explorationists vol%) and H2 (10 vol%) (Etiope et al. 2011). Etiope et al. (2011) estimate
to take hydrogen more seriously” (Smith 2002). Eighteen years later, that 150–190 t of CH4 is released to the atmosphere per year at this
things are moving in this direction. Academic research over the last site. The seeps here have been continuously active for more than 2,000
three decades has begun to accumulate a significant number of observa­ years and, as suggested by Etiope et al. (2011), are evidently linked to
tions of seeps of native hydrogen, together with abiotic methane (e.g., low-temperature serpentinization processes (<100–150 °C) below the
Smith et al. 2005; Etiope and Schoell 2014; Prinzhoffer and Deville surface of Mount Chimaera. Numerous other abiotic gas seepages, most
2015). Two main geological environments are involved: (1) Precambrian of which are associated with ophiolitic provinces, have been reported in
crystalline shields, (2) serpentinized ultramafic rocks at mid-ocean the literature from locations around the world (including Turkey, Oman,
ridges and within land-based ophiolite-peridotite massifs. These two Japan, Philippines, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Greece, Portugal,
environments have only rarely been drilled by the oil and gas industry, Spain, Italy, Bosnia, California, and Canada). In the mixed gas that
explaining why significant reservoirs of hydrogen have had almost is discharged at these localities, H 2 is generally less abundant than
no chance of being fortuitously discovered during the exploration of CH4. Etiope et al. (2016 and references therein) report three sites of
petroleum provinces. The mining industry is frequently active in these noticeable H 2 -concentration (>2,600 ppm, or 0.26%, in the gas phase)
kinds of environments but does not always monitor the composition in Ronda (Spain), Tablelands (Canada), and Happo (Japan). Monnin
of the gases that escape from the rocks. Furthermore, working depths et al. (2014) indicate more than 20% H 2 from the Prony Bay seepage
in mining operations are generally less deep than in petroleum explo­ (New Caledonia). Boulart et al. (2013) report up to 12% H 2 in Oman’s
ration, and the excavated rocks are probably already degassed due to blue pools, and up to 1% H 2 in the hyperalkaline springs from the
blasting and other mining operations. Voltry Massif (Italy).
In many ways, the current state of exploration for native hydrogen Hydrogen seeps also have been observed in ancient cratons (including
resembles the beginnings of oil exploration. Before the pioneering work those in Russia, Brazil, USA, South Africa, and Finland) and, in some
of “Colonel” Edwin Drake, whose famous oil strike in 1859 at Titusville cases, form subcircular depressions that can emit significant quanti­
(Pennsylvania, USA) set off the first oil rush, oil and gas were mainly ties of H2 : 21,000–27,000 m3 per day in one circular structure 1 km in
known from seeps at the Earth’s surface. Surface oil and gas seeps have diameter located in the Russian part of the European craton (Larin et
been known since antiquity, for example in the Mesopotamian Area. al. 2015). The origin of H2 in these latter cases remains unclear, but
The Bible even refers to Noah using bitumen for caulking and water­ may be related to serpentinization of deeply buried ultrabasic rocks,
proofing during construction of the Ark, and methane escaping from radiolysis of water, or the oxidation of Fe(II)-bearing minerals (such
the mud volcanoes of Azerbaijan were known to the Zoroastrian “fire- as siderite, biotite, or amphibole).
worshippers” more than 2,000 years ago. Drake invented “creekology”,
a petroleum prospecting method based on the systematic search for Offshore (i.e., marine) production of H2 and gas discharge in hydro­
natural oil seeps that are typically found in erosion relief forms (i.e., val­ thermal vents occur along mid-oceanic ridges, as demonstrated by pio­
leys and creeks — hence the name). However, Drake had no knowledge neering discoveries on the East Pacific Ridge and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
of the anticline theory nor any idea of what creates a petroleum trap. It (Welhan and Craig 1979; Charlou and Donval 1993; Bogdanov et al.
was only 26 years later in 1885 that American geologist Israel Charles 1995). One such case, the famous Lost City hydrothermal system, is not
White was the first to associate the existence of organic matter, the pres­ directly on the ridge but occurs close to the Atlantis Transform Fault,
ence of reservoir rocks, and anticlinal traps with the successful location 15 km west from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Proskurowski et al. 2008). In
of oil and gas fields. The three key elements that constitute a petroleum many cases, serpentinization is the main reaction accounting for the
system (source rock, reservoir, and trap) were finally connected. elevated H 2 concentrations in the hydrothermal fluids.

Following the discoveries of oil and gas seeps, the “tipping point” for the
petroleum industry was the well drilled by Colonel Drake. In the case of
native hydrogen, we may be at this point (or close to it) with the recent
1 Total E&P, R&D
discovery made in Mali near the village of Bourakebougou (Prinzhofer
Pau, France et al. 2018). After the first analysis of the well Bougou-1 c­ onfirmed
E-mail: [email protected]

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 PERSPECTIVE

the presence of almost pure hydrogen (98%), a dozen ­e xploratory REFERENCES

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Eric C. Gaucher is an expert geochemist working
Sylvain Calassou and many colleagues (TOTAL R&D) are thanked for in the petroleum industry. His work focuses on
fruitful discussions. The author also thanks the editors of Elements for water–rock–gas interactions at the laboratory scale
their invitation to write this Perspective, which is his own personal up to basin scale using experimental, field and
vision. numerical modeling methods. Although one of his
main research objectives is to understand the behav­
iour of CO2(g) in sediments (e.g., diagenesis, CO2
storage), he is now researching abiotic gases (H 2,
CH4) in natural systems mainly linked to serpenti­
nization. Prior to coming to TOTAL in 2012, he was the head of a research
unit at the French geological survey (BRGM) investigating the stability of
clay formations for the management of nuclear waste. In 1993 he gained his
MSc in Earth sciences from the École normale supérieure in Lyon (France)
and in 1998 his PhD in geochemistry from the University of Paris VII.

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