Natural hydrogen reaches drilling in three countries

Until recently natural hydrogen was a subject for geological papers, with no dedicated wells. The material reposted by Klaus Steven records exploratory drilling under way at the same time in Australia, Canada and the United States, with Canada's Max Power Mining starting a third validation well, at 2,278 metres, at the Lawson Complex in Saskatchewan.

The search map is already public. The United States Geological Survey published on 16 January 2025 the first prospectivity map for geologic hydrogen in the contiguous United States, pointing to the mid-continent, the Four Corners region, the California coast and stretches of the eastern seaboard. It maps where to look, not measured reserves.

Between an exploration licence and first revenue come wells, flow tests, proof that the reservoir recharges, and transport to a buyer that does not yet exist at the point of production. It is an oil and gas spending curve applied to a market still being built alongside it.

The milestone that matters is not the concentration measured at the well, it is the sustained flow test that turns a discovery into contractable volume.