Natural Hydrogen Prospects in Nigeria: A Technical Evaluation

Abstract

Hydrogen has gained increasing recognition in recent years as a promising unconventional energy carrier, critical to accelerating the global energy transition and achieving net‑zero emission targets. Global demand has risen steadily since 1990 and is projected to reach approximately 180 Mt by 2030. However, current supply remains heavily dependent on anthropogenic production methods, including steam methane reforming, coal gasification, and electrolysis, with over 96% derived from fossil fuels. These pathways are associated with high production costs and significant challenges in achieving genuine net‑zero emissions, even when integrated with carbon capture and storage technologies. Natural hydrogen (also referred to as white or geologic hydrogen) is increasingly recognised as a viable alternative to address this supply–demand gap. It offers potential advantages in both production cost and carbon intensity, with concentrations of up to 85% hydrogen reported in some occurrences. Exploration and production of natural hydrogen originated from its accidental discovery during a water well drilling campaign in the Bourakébougou field in Mali. This discovery has catalysed exploration activities across Europe (including Spain, France, and Albania), North America (USA and Canada), and Australia, leading to the identification of significant accumulations. For instance, recent exploration in the Moselle region of France (2025), following earlier discoveries in the Lorraine Basin (2023), has increased estimated national reserves to approximately 92 million tonnes. Subsurface generation of natural hydrogen is attributed to several geochemical and physicochemical processes, among which serpentinisation is considered the most robust mechanism. Serpentinisation involves the reaction of water with iron‑rich ultramafic rocks, producing hydrogen alongside iron oxide minerals. The geological, structural, mineralogical, hydrodynamic, and environmental conditions associated with known natural hydrogen systems may have strong analogues within several inland sedimentary basins in Nigeria. Despite this potential, there has been no systematic effort to evaluate the occurrence, generation, and accumulation of natural hydrogen in these basins. This paper addresses the gap outlined above by: (i) critically reviewing the processes governing natural hydrogen formation and accumulation; (ii) mapping the geological, structural, mineralogical, hydrodynamic, and environmental characteristics of established hydrogen‑bearing basins to Nigerian basin analogues; and (iii) assessing the potential for natural hydrogen generation and accumulation in Nigeria. The synthesis identifies four basins with analogous characteristics to verified hydrogen systems: the Benue Trough, Sokoto (Iullemmeden) Basin, Niger Delta, and Bida (Mid‑Niger) Basin. These findings suggest that Nigeria's basement complex and associated basin systems present significant potential for natural hydrogen generation and possible commercial accumulation.