Surface Seeps as a Window into Texas's Natural Hydrogen and Helium Potential
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Presenter
Gabriel Pasquet, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Bureau of Economic Geology
Jackson School of Geosciences
The University of Texas at Austin
Description
The Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico (USA) has long been targeted in oil and gas exploration. Historical data from oil and gas wells from the last century have suggested the presence of hydrogen (H₂) and helium (He) at depth. While these findings offer promising leads, the measurements are outdated and require modern verification to assess their current relevance and potential for commercial accumulation.
The Mesoproterozoic basement of the Permian Basin forms an intractonic sag and consists of a complex assemblage of igneous and metamorphic rocks, which are rock types known to generate He and H₂. Interestingly, the basin comprises a 300-1200 m thick Permian evaporite sequence, which may act as an effective seal for basement-sourced He and H₂.
In this study, we investigate the natural hydrogen system of the Delaware Basin, the westernmost depocenter of the Permian Basin. The western margin of the basin exposes granite-rhyolite-gneiss formations enriched in radioactive elements (U, Th, K), while the eastern margin features the Pecos mafic intrusion, a >4420 m thick cumulate sequence of mafic to ultramafic rocks (gabbro, norite, pyroxenite, harzburgite, lherzolite).
A soil gas survey was conducted to identify potential emission zones and to evaluate the sealing potential of the evaporite sequence. In the most favorable areas, long-term H₂ monitoring was implemented to assess possible cyclicity (e.g., diurnal, seasonal) in gas emissions. Basement rock analyses provide insights into both past and potentially ongoing reactions beneath the salt, helping to constrain the hydrogen system and its geological controls.
