Drilling for ‘Gold’ Hydrogen in the Permian Basin

Add another color to the hydrogen rainbow. This one targets for feedstock trapped oil in conventional reservoirs.

Gold hydrogen, as Houston-based Cemvita Factory Inc. calls it, is produced biologically and in the subsurface. Hydrogen already naturally exists in reservoirs though not in abundance, said Zach Broussard, head of subsurface biomanufacturing for Cemvita.

“The really exciting thing about gold hydrogen is that the feedstock is essentially free. It’s trapped oil in the ground that’s unextractable,” Broussard said. “Turning that into not only a revenue source but a revenue source that happens to be a clean source of energy is a really, really exciting process.”

“In the case of EOR, they’re looking to just increase the mobility of the oil leading to more oil recovery at the producer well. In our case, we’re not necessarily looking to just mobilize the oil. We’re actually looking to turn that oil into hydrogen and then produce that hydrogen from the oil.”—Zach Broussard, Cemvita Factory Inc.

The process is similar to EOR, he explained, noting the company is looking at waterflood-type applications with injectors and producers.

“In the case of EOR, they’re looking to just increase the mobility of the oil leading to more oil recovery at the producer well,” he said. “In our case, we’re not necessarily looking to just mobilize the oil. We’re actually looking to turn that oil into hydrogen and then produce that hydrogen from the oil.”

The company’s process involves removing microbes from the subsurface, cultivating them on the surface to a higher cell density and reinjecting them back into the subsurface where a metabolic process occurs, resulting in hydrogen at levels that can be produced and CO₂ that can be captured and stored. Reservoirs suitable for waterflooding and with temperatures below 180-200 F are ideal.

Potential

Energy experts see potential in hydrogen’s ability to decarbonize major sectors of the economy and generate electricity, if demand picks up and projects are economical. It’s viewed as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, although some forms are generated from fossil fuels. These include gray hydrogen, created from natural gas; blue hydrogen, also generated from natural gas but incorporates carbon capture and storage; and the dirtiest, black and brown hydrogen, created through burning coal and lignite.

Gold hydrogen has the potential to bring new life to depleted and abandoned reservoirs using the subsurface biomanufacturing technique Cemvita is working to commercialize. The company is preparing for a field trial this month, working with a small independent operator in the Permian Basin, Broussard said.

“We’re looking to do kind of a limited single well huff and puff type application where we put our microbes down into a well, we shut it in, wait for a couple of days, open it up and see what kind of hydrogen we get out of it,” he said.

Cemvita is one company turning to oil reservoirs for hydrogen as the world moves to reduce emissions and use low-carbon energy.

Calgary-based Proton Technologies Inc. also utilizes existing oil and gas reservoirs and infrastructure. As explained on the company’s website, oxygen is injected into the reservoir, downhole chemical reactions oxidize residual oil and generate hydrogen. The hydrogen is recovered in-situ or at the surface with existing separation technologies or designed filters, the company said. The CO₂ is sequestered and left underground, while the hydrogen is transported.

Broussard admits he has an eye on Proton, specifically its work on membranes to filter out CO₂—something Cemvita will also encounter.

Hurdles

Initial technical economic assessments based on lab work shows Cemvita’s process may not be cost-prohibitive at a $1 per kilogram price point. Whether that translates to the field remains to be seen.

The price is based on co-producing the hydrogen with the CO₂, which would be separated on surface and reinjected—a process Broussard called costly. However, a passive membrane filtration or something similar could lower costs to about 80 cents per kilogram of hydrogen, he said.

“We know that there’s still development that we want to do in the lab. There’s a lot of questions we still want to answer,” he said, “but at the same time, we feel that we’re at a pretty good place to try this in the field and see what see what happens.”

Earlier this month, Broussard baselined some sample wells for the upcoming field trial in the Permian Basin.

Cemvita announced in February the formation of a joint industry project to commercialize the technology, working with Chart Industries Inc., engineering and consulting firm EXP and The Center for Houston’s Future. Since then, the structure has changed with the formation of a subsidiary called Gold H2, Broussard said.

“That’s been really well received from our investors and getting the message out,” he said. “Everybody’s very excited about anything hydrogen related to oil fields.”

But getting buy-in from larger players has been a hurdle. “Once we prove it in the field and prove it out more in the lab as well, I think that will come with ease,” he said.

If the efforts prove successful, a large market could open for Cemvita and others looking to tap oil reservoirs for hydrogen, given vast amounts of abandoned and stranded assets.

“If we’re successful, not to toot my own horn, I think it’ll be big,” Broussard said. “The hydrogen market is potentially going to be very large over the next coming years.”