UAE taps French firm for first-ever natural hydrogen exploration: What to know

The United Arab Emirates’ natural hydrogen resources are set to be explored for the first time as the Gulf country looks to tap the gas to help it decarbonize industrial sectors. What happened: Mantle8, a French natural hydrogen exploration company, secured the right to negotiate an exploration contract for Block 7 in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah under an agreement with the emirate’s Department of Energy, the company announced in a statement on Monday.

“We will deploy around 1,000 passive seismic sensors to build a detailed 4D image of the subsurface. That data, combined with field sampling of gas, water and rock, will tell us where hydrogen is being generated, how it migrates and where it accumulates,” Sylvain Marcant, chief commercial officer at Mantle8, told Al-Monitor. The 24-month project will allow Mantle8 to assess whether Ras Al Khaimah’s geology could support domestic hydrogen production and contribute to regional energy diversification.

The agreement paves the way to progress from initial data acquisition to a potential commercial agreement covering exploratory drilling and development, subject to the survey's findings. “The goal is to move from exploration to drilling with data, not guesswork,” Marcant added. Why it matters: Unlike oil and natural gas, natural hydrogen does not produce any carbon dioxide emissions when burned, though manufactured hydrogen can. Natural hydrogen, which is generated by geological processes within the Earth’s crust, could offer a route to lower-cost supply without the energy-intensive production processes required for manufactured hydrogen.

Hydrogen has many applications and can help power industries such as refining, ammonia production and chemicals. Natural hydrogen could also replace hydrogen currently produced from natural gas, with the potential to reduce both cost and emissions, Mercant said. “Ras Al Khaimah’s industrial base and port infrastructure make it well-positioned to serve industrial demand,” he added. The UAE has prioritized hydrogen as part of its national strategy to decarbonize and reduce its reliance on oil.

So far, it has focused on green and blue hydrogen, which are produced industrially in places including the DEWA Green Hydrogen Project in Dubai, and the Ruwais Industrial Complex and Masdar-EMSTEEL Green Steel Pilot in Abu Dhabi. The UAE also has several other industrial hydrogen projects under development across Abu Dhabi, Ruwais and Sharjah. Under the National Hydrogen Strategy 2050, the Gulf country aims to establish itself as a global producer and supplier of low-emission hydrogen by 2031 while supporting its net-zero emissions target by 2050.

It plans to produce 1.4 million metric tons of low-carbon hydrogen per year, including 1 million metric tons of green hydrogen and 400,000 tons of blue hydrogen. Ras Al Khaimah lies at the northern end of the Semail Ophiolite, one of the world’s largest and most exposed sections of oceanic crust. Its geology, active fault systems and observed hydrogen seeps provide geological indicators that warrant further investigation into the potential for hydrogen generation beneath the surface, Mercant said.

Asked how much hydrogen the company expects to find, Mercant said, "It is too early to quantify resource potential. That is precisely what this program is designed to establish. What we can say is that Ras Al Khaimah's geology provides strong indicators that warrant systematic exploration.” Know more: The largest area of the Semail Ophiolite lies in Oman, which is also exploring natural hydrogen. Commercial exploration firms including Australia's HyTerra, the UK's Helios and Switzerland's Hynat have been actively investigating natural hydrogen prospects across the country.

Geologists have also identified parts of Saudi Arabia that are included in the Precambrian Arabian Shield as potential sources of natural hydrogen.