Since 2016, Nicolas has been working on natural hydrogen and has developed a new exploration approach, far from the context of circular depressions and ophiolitic settings. During his PhD, he produced a regional-scale soil gas anomaly map, highlighting an area rich in natural hydrogen. This work led to two exploration licenses in the Pyrenees. More recently, he has participated in ICDP drilling projects to explore the potential of the Insubrian line (Alps) and collaborated with teams from Grenoble to conduct geophysical measurements in Bulqizë, Albania. Currently, he focuses on quantifying the potential for H2 production through the hypermutation of organic matter.
Nicolas Lefeuvre1,2,*, Eric Thomas2, Laurent Truche1, Frédéric-Victor Donzé1, Thibault Cros2, Johann Dupuy2, Laura Pinzon-Rincon1, Christophe Rigollet 2
1 Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, ISTerre, F-38058 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
2 CVA Group, 2 rue Myron Kinley, 64000 Pau – France
*Corresponding author: Nicolas Lefeuvre (nicolas.lefeuvre@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr)
Geochemical reactions between water and rocks on Earth are known to produce molecular hydrogen (H2). These reactions, such as serpentinization and water radiolysis, are well-documented in scientific literature. With the global shift towards sustainable energy, naturally occurring H2 is being considered as a potential carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels. There has been a growing interest in researching the potential of H2 in various geological environments. At present, exploration methodologies for targeting H2 in potential geological reservoirs mostly rely on soil gas analysis at a depth of 1m through the soil. However, this approach has some limitations and is not an all-encompassing or efficient methodology. Therefore, there is a need for more integrated and systematic exploration strategies, as highlighted in recent studies.
This study focuses on the natural hydrogen (H2) occurrences in the Paris Basin, utilizing Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to analyze an underutilized database of old drilling records. As natural hydrogen gains attention as a carbon-free energy source, its presence in conventional oil and gas wells remains underexplored. The study leverages the CVAGeoDB In-house database based on public well data, composed of End Drilling Reports (EDRs) in PDF image format. These documents were converted into searchable formats using the Tesseract-OCR Engine for effective data analysis, identifying several H2-containing wells in French sedimentary basins. Notably, hydrogen occurrences in the Aquitaine Basin align with the geological context, while those in the Paris Basin present anomalies, as their occurrences do not correspond with expected geological factors.
In the Paris Basin (Fig. 1), the presence of hydrogen (H2) in wells cannot be easily explained by the local geology. Thus, our study aims to investigate the underlying geological factors that may influence the occurrence of H2 in the Paris Basin. Our findings suggest that there is potential for H2 in the area, which is an intracratonic basin. The basement consists of ophiolitics rocks located at depths less than 4 kilometers (according to Averbuch and Piromallo, 2012). Additionally, the basin is intersected by major faults that run through the basement and the overlying sedimentary cover. These faults could serve as conduits for H2 migration and accumulation.
UPPA / University Grenoble Alpes, ISTerre
Chercheur postdoctoral