Hy-Pet

Hy-Pet is an integrated petrological-petrophysical-geophysical exploration tool that enables the characterisation of hydrogen-generating protoliths in different geo-tectonic settings. 

We see this as a fundamental first step in ‘bottom-up’, science-based exploration for gas-phase natural hydrogen. Hy-Pet builds on Hy-Eval, NHSG’s geochemical modelling routine which is used to evaluate the hydrogen yield potential of protoliths by serpentinization. From Hy-Eval we have ascertained that only ultramafic rocks with the right chemistry and in certain P-T (depth) conditions can generate gas-phase hydrogen (Lawrence et al, 2026, in prep). This allows us to specify the petrophysical properties of target protoliths and tailor multi-physics programmes to enable their subsurface 3D geometry, extent and position in space to be determined. Also, internal heterogeneity, potentially related to alteration including serpentinization, can be investigated. 

Geophysics offers numerous methods for estimating subsurface rock properties and imaging subsurface geology, and methods routinely used in both oil & gas and minerals exploration can equally be applied to natural hydrogen exploration. Using workflows jointly developed by Metatek and NHSG, geophysical datasets can be integrated with measured rock property and petrophysical data and interpreted in the context of the regional tectonic setting to evaluate the potential for gas phase hydrogen generation. In addition to evaluation of the hydrogen generation potential, a multiphysics approach provides evidence for fluid (water and gas) migration, evidence of major fault and fracture systems, and the evaluation of reservoir and seal potential. 

Hy-Pet follows a series of exploration work flows designed to investigate hydrogen protoliths in a range of geo-tectonic settings including Tethyan Ophiolites, Cordilleran Ophiolites, Greenstone-Cratonic Basin, and Convergent Margin-Forearc Basin (see Jackson et al. 2024).

1. Jackson, O., Lawrence, S. R., Hutchinson, I. P., Stocks, A. E., Barnicoat, A. C. and Powney, M. 2024. Natural hydrogen: sources, systems and exploration plays. Geoenergy, 2
2. Lawrence SR, Barnicoat A, Jackson O, Hutchinson I, Stocks A, Wikramaratna R, Heath R, Boubaker Y and Powney M, 2026 (in prep), “The two ‘Worlds’ of the Hydrogen System: Implications for natural hydrogen exploration”