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The hunt for natural hydrogen has become one of the most compelling stories in clean energy, with explorers racing to uncover underground reservoirs that could provide carbon-free fuel without the massive energy costs of manufacturing it. The Romanian discovery of a pressurised hydrogen reservoir in ophiolite rocks offers the first direct evidence of how these geological formations can trap and store significant quantities of the gas.
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Cluj Today Press SRL, UBB CORE, Career Guidance for Researchers to promote science and research as widely as possible in society
The Romanian find stems from a borehole drilled in the 1970s in the Tișovița–Iuți ophiolite in southwestern Romania. Originally intended for metal mining exploration, the well unexpectedly struck a pocket of pressurised gas at about 800 metres depth
. The gas sample revealed a remarkable composition: approximately 29 per cent hydrogen and 69 per cent methane, along with traces of heavier hydrocarbons and nitrogen.
Local accounts recall a violent gas eruption and a fire that lasted several days, testament to the reservoir’s pressure and volume. Although technical data such as exact pressure and flow rates were not recorded, the event provided researchers with rare direct evidence of natural hydrogen accumulation. Prof. Călin Baciu and CSI Giuseppe Etiope published their findings in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.
Even decades after the initial drilling, hydrogen continues to leak from the old wellhead, with concentrations exceeding 100 parts per million in the air and measurable amounts in water samples. This persistent emission underscores the reservoir’s significance and the continuing generation of hydrogen in the subsurface.
The Science Behind Underground Hydrogen
Ophiolites are slices of oceanic crust and upper mantle rocks thrust onto continental crust. They are rich in peridotites, which when altered by water through serpentinisation can generate significant amounts of hydrogen . Whilst surface seeps of hydrogen have been observed in ophiolite regions in Turkey and Albania, Romania’s Tișovița site represents the first where a subsurface, pressurised hydrogen reservoir has been directly encountered and documented.
Researchers believe the Romanian reservoir lies within a fractured, cataclastic dunite zone near the contact between different peridotite layers. Above this, less-deformed, highly serpentinised dunite and impermeable tonalite veins acted as a natural seal, trapping the gas under pressure. This model mirrors mechanisms known from conventional oil and gas fields, where fractured rocks serve as reservoirs and less permeable rocks above act as cap rocks.
Global Race for Natural Hydrogen
The Romanian case provides a conceptual model for future exploration that could guide searches elsewhere. France recently discovered a 46-million-ton white hydrogen deposit in the Moselle region valued at £92 billion, whilst South Australia has become a hotspot for exploration activity. Gold Hydrogen completed its first two exploration wells in late 2023 and plans additional drilling in 2025 at the Ramsay Project, having confirmed high-purity hydrogen and helium.
The United States invested £20 million across 16 projects in February 2024 to accelerate natural hydrogen production. Colorado’s Front Range is becoming a hub for geological hydrogen research, with the US Geological Survey and Colorado scientists leading efforts to understand extraction possibilities.
Natural hydrogen’s commercial potential faces significant hurdles. France’s 46-million-ton discovery, whilst substantial, represents only half the world’s annual grey hydrogen production and remains tiny compared to projected global demand of 200 million tons by 2050. The challenge lies not just in finding deposits but in developing extraction techniques that make economic sense.
According to energy analyst Isabelle Moretti, natural hydrogen should cost 30 per cent less than conventional SMR hydrogen, currently priced at £2 per kilogram. This would make it three times cheaper than green hydrogen, whose costs continue rising despite technological advances.
The presence of methane and heavier hydrocarbons alongside hydrogen in Romania suggests long-term accumulation and complex chemical processes have occurred in the subsurface. These mixed gas compositions present both opportunities and challenges for extraction and purification, similar to issues faced in conventional mineral extraction projects.
Investment and Exploration Activity
Major energy companies are taking notice. BP Ventures announced the first tranche of Series-A funding for Snowfox Discovery in January 2025, a UK-based natural hydrogen exploration company. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Osaka Gas led a £50 million funding round for Koloma, bringing the Denver-based company’s total funding to over £300 million.
The exploration techniques focus on seismic surveys, drilling and understanding geological processes like serpentinisation. Companies are developing AI and data analytics to identify potential deposits more efficiently, whilst researchers study the geochemical reactions that produce hydrogen naturally.
Romania’s discovery demonstrates that natural hydrogen reservoirs can exist in accessible geological formations, potentially making extraction more viable than previously thought. The persistent hydrogen seepage decades after drilling suggests these systems can sustain production over extended periods, though questions remain about reservoir sizes and commercial flow rates.
The Romanian model suggests fractured, serpentinised peridotites sealed by less-deformed or intrusive rocks could host commercial hydrogen accumulations. This insight guides exploration in ophiolite-rich regions worldwide, from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia and western North America. Like other major geological discoveries, this finding could reshape global energy supply chains.
Natural hydrogen could supplement other renewable technologies and support increased hydrogen use in future energy systems. Unlike manufactured hydrogen, which requires significant energy inputs, natural deposits could provide a ready source of clean fuel if extraction proves commercially viable. The technology shares some similarities with advanced extraction methods being developed for other critical energy materials.
The accidental encounter with a hydrogen-rich reservoir in Romania’s ophiolite marks a significant step in understanding how geological formations can naturally produce and store clean energy. Whether this translates into a commercial energy source depends on finding larger deposits and developing cost-effective extraction methods, much like the challenges facing other emerging sustainable energy technologies.
Note: Articole promoted by UBB CORE , Career Guidance for Researchers to promote science and research as widely as possible in society, to encourage young people to get involved in research and to provide high quality career guidance services to established researchers.- Credit PADUREAN BIANCA Cluj Today Press SRL
