Upstream blue hydrogen: Going back to the source

Upstream blue hydrogen production can be a more efficient and cost-friendly addition to green hydrogen production and regular (downstream) blue hydrogen production. According to leaders in the field, OPEC Member Countries could be forerunners in this circular process, which has great potential to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) stemming from natural gas production, building reformed gas (hydrogen) into the energy mix for the long term. Maureen MacNeill tells the story.

Belinda Perriman and Alex Weber have put years of thought into upstream blue hydrogen, from when they were both employed in regular international oil companies, before deciding to develop a company called Convert Well, to encourage oil and gas companies to produce hydrogen on-site at their gas fields.

Weber worked nearly 30 years for Shell and the idea of upstream blue hydrogen came to him ten years ago while working for the IOC. Perriman had a similar epiphany when leading the Peterhead Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project for Shell UK.

Today, they work with others to mature the idea. Last year they joined the first cohort in Berlin of the Cambridge University Carbon 13 (C13) programme. Applications were highly competitive, with everyone required to have a 10 million tonne/year carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent reduction potential in their sights.

“Converting gas fields to low-carbon hydrogen producers meant that the annual target is a credible one. It was a great programme, it gave us a lot of structure. I’ve been involved in several company startups before, but within a corporate environment. Still, I really appreciated the C13 programme. It made us stand up there, present and receive feedback on what we are so passionate about,” says Perriman.

“We did pretty detailed calculations of what net carbon savings could be delivered … within the structure of C13,” adds Weber, stating the programme finished near the end of last year, just before Perriman attended COP28 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as an observer with the CCS Association.

Perriman notes, “There was a lot of positive reaction to the concept of going back to the source and decarbonizing there, to be able to sell low-carbon hydrogen; especially I would say amongst OPEC Member Country pavilions.

“OPEC Members are well placed to be leaders in upstream blue hydrogen,” she adds. “The ones that have, or are developing a hydrogen strategy and are major gas resource holders … they know their gas fields, they appreciate their fields and they want to invest in their fields to give them a low-carbon future. As countries, they will be future-proofing their gas fields for many decades to come.

Read the full article from Page 66 of the June 2024 OPEC Bulletin: bulletin-2024-06.pdf