I can’t help feeling that we are all inside a strange play, where the actors know their lines but don’t understand the meaning of the production.
In this play, everyone plays a different role: some have long been accustomed to applause and investment checks, others only go on stage, hoping to catch a ray of light, and some remain behind the scenes, even though they are the ones holding the real script of success. But what if the whole play was originally written with mistakes?
Let’s take a look at the largest funded company in the natural hydrogen industry. Its name is on everyone’s lips. It conducted its first drilling campaign between 2022 and 2023, and now its results are no longer hidden behind trade secrecy. It would seem that the moment of triumph had arrived. We should have heard thunderous announcements, seen waves of enthusiastic press releases, read reports that would finally convince even the most skeptical analysts.
But instead, silence.
WHY?
Because it doesn’t contain what we’ve all dreamed of hearing. If there were data that could move the industry, it would be flooding conferences, academic journals and trade publications by now. If there were results that proved commercially viable, investors would already be queuing up, trying to get the best positions. But there isn’t.
AND NOW I HAVE A QUESTION FOR INVESTORS:
👉 You have invested hundreds of millions. Are you sure you understand exactly what you’re investing in?
👉 Have you analyzed the reasons for such results or just keep going by inertia?
👉 Maybe it’s time to stop believing in pretty presentations and really look into what’s going on?
And now the other extreme – the world of hydrogen startups that search for natural hydrogen, not by measuring its readings in the soil or in previously drilled oil and gas wells, but in algorithms and models. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data – it sounds futuristic, promising, technologically advanced. They don’t drill, but they give advice on where to drill, what new technologies to apply to find “natural hydrogen deposits” by analogy with “oil and gas deposits”. They collect paltry investments because their requests look insignificant compared to industry giants.
💡 Invest a little in a dozen projects → wait for one to shoot up → if not, losses are minimal. That’s how venture logic works. And so, imperceptibly, the industry splits into two camps:
🔹 Those who get hundreds of millions but show no real results.
🔹 Those who raise small amounts of money by selling investors promises and hope.
AND WHERE ARE THE THIRD PARTIES BEHIND THE SCENES IN THIS BIZARRE SPECTACLE ?
Where are the engineers and geologists, who know the real exploration statistics, who understand that wildcat drilling is not just luck, but probability statistics? Where are the companies that can actually evaluate the mechanisms of natural hydrogen generation and migration? Where are those who rely not on theoretical calculations, but on proven methods of the mining industry?
Why do these specialists remain in the shadows?
Why is it that funding does not come to them?
Why do the headlines scream:
📢 “France’s largest hydrogen deposit found!”
📢 “Geological hydrogen breakthrough!”
But if it’s so obvious, where are the investors willing to actually fund drilling in France?
📌 Do we care about the process or the result?
📌 Why doesn’t anyone ask uncomfortable questions?
📌 Why are we spending millions on projects that are stalling and not investing in those that really understand what they are doing?
And this is where I think about the main point : what are we all doing wrong?
We’re chasing the hype because we’re afraid of missing out on the “new oil boom”.
We put effort and investment into laboratory theories, but forget that future commercial production is always a fusion of scientifically validated data and serious investment in drilling exploration wells.
We have long known about breakthrough approaches to natural hydrogen exploration, but we don’t want to spend the time and money to actually test them.
We go around in circles like a squirrel in a wheel, wasting resources and time, but not getting any closer to an answer. Maybe it is time to stop and look at things differently?
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Energy News. This content is presented as the author’s analysis based on available information at the time of writing. It should not be considered as representative of Energy News or its editorial stance. Readers are encouraged to consider this as one perspective among many and to form their own opinions based on multiple sources.
