Two hydrogen industries are forming at once. One manufactures hydrogen from electricity and water; the other drills for it. They share almost nothing upstream and almost everything downstream. This directory maps both, plus the three service layers that make either possible — geoscience, drilling, and catalysis. It is a working reference, not an exhaustive census.
The two routes, and where they meet
Different upstream. Identical downstream from the synthesis reactor onwards.
LINK 1 OF 6
Geoscience & subsurface data
Who tells you where to look. The screening layer that comes before any drill bit.
Natural hydrogen exploration is, at this stage, mostly a data problem. Before anyone drills, somebody has to say which few square kilometres out of a continent are worth the money. Three kinds of company do this: specialist geoscience data houses, the big seismic contractors redeploying oil-and-gas databases, and national geological surveys.
| Company | Base | Role in natural hydrogen |
|---|---|---|
| Getech Group plc | 🇬🇧 UK | Describes itself as the leading service provider in natural hydrogen exploration. Awarded the European Commission’s pan-EU prospectivity mapping contract in July 2026 (>€1M, 27 member states, with Trinomics B.V.). Workflows cover serpentinisation, radiolysis, deep-seated faulting and overmature source rocks. |
| CGG SA | 🇫🇷 France | Redirected its global geological database to hydrogen. Uses machine learning for at-scale screening of exploration fundamentals. |
| Halliburton (Neftex) | 🇺🇸 USA | Neftex global geological framework redeployed for hydrogen prospectivity. |
| SLB (Schlumberger) | 🇺🇸 / 🇫🇷 | AI-assisted geoscience and seismic interpretation; borehole seismic, imaging, survey design. |
| TGS ASA | 🇳🇴 Norway | Multi-client seismic data libraries, increasingly relevant to subsurface screening. |
| Fugro N.V. | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | Geotechnical and geoscience survey services. |
| Mantle8 | 🇫🇷 France | Multiphysics imaging mapping hydrogen reservoirs non-invasively; prospect generation algorithm. Also an explorer — see link 2. |
| Geoscience Australia | 🇦🇺 Australia | National survey; desktop studies and soil gas sampling campaigns. |
| CSIRO | 🇦🇺 Australia | Dedicated geologic hydrogen research team. |
| BRGM | 🇫🇷 France | French geological survey; REGALOR programme partner in Lorraine. |
| GSB / Belspo | 🇧🇪 Belgium | Geological Survey of Belgium; BE.Hydrogen programme — a mapping programme, not a discovery. |
| USGS | 🇺🇸 USA | First national-scale assessments of geologic hydrogen potential. |
⚠ One distinction worth keeping straight
A mapping programme is not a discovery. BE.Hydrogen in Belgium is a geological survey — no accumulation, flow or commercially exploitable resource has been confirmed on Belgian territory to date. The same applies to most national programmes above. They tell you where to look; they do not tell you that something is there.
LINK 2 OF 6
Natural hydrogen explorers
Who holds the acreage and takes the geological risk. The fastest-moving link in the chain.
Around 27 companies now identify as natural hydrogen explorers, of which roughly half are funded and nine have reached Series A or beyond. The United States leads on company count, followed by the United Kingdom and Australia. Capital has arrived faster than results: Koloma alone has raised about $403 million without a commercial well anywhere in the sector.
| Company | Base / listing | Position and backers |
|---|---|---|
| Koloma | 🇺🇸 USA · private | Best-funded player: ~$403M raised. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, United Airlines, Prelude Ventures. Kansas acreage; expanded to the Philippines in 2026 (Service Contract 92, Zambales; >1,600 sq mi total). |
| Française de l’Énergie (FDE) | 🇫🇷 France · Euronext | Holds Trois Évêchés, the EU’s first natural hydrogen exploration permit (2,254 km², Moselle). PTH-2: 49.6% H₂ at 2,426 m, 3,655 m total depth, June 2026. REGALOR II certification expected 2027; production target late 2028. |
| Gold Hydrogen | 🇦🇺 Australia · ASX: GHY | Highest market capitalisation in the sector and the only listed company to have drilled two exploration wells with confirmed high-purity hydrogen and helium. Ramsay 3: 97% purity, December 2025; helium-3 confirmed. ENEOS Xplora, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Toyota Motor. |
| Mantle8 | 🇫🇷 France · private | €31M Series A to prove commercial viability. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Bpifrance, Eclipse Energy. €2.06M EU award March 2026. Active in the Pyrenees. |
| HyTerra | 🇦🇺 Australia · ASX: HYT | First ASX listing focused on white hydrogen. Drilling in Kansas, Nemaha Ridge. Backed by Fortescue. |
| Snowfox Discovery | 🇬🇧 UK · private | bp Ventures, Rio Tinto, AP Ventures. |
| MAX Power Mining | 🇨🇦 Canada · CSE: MAXX | Confirmed Canada’s first natural hydrogen drilling discovery in the 475 km Genesis Trend, Saskatchewan, January 2026. 1.3 million permitted acres. |
| Vema Hydrogen | 🇫🇷 / 🇨🇦 | Stimulated geologic hydrogen — catalyst injection to induce serpentinisation rather than passive extraction. Pilot wells in Québec, February 2026. Extantia, Propeller VC, Grantham Foundation. |
| 45-8 ENERGY | 🇫🇷 France | Native gases explorer (H₂, helium). Heling and the French state. |
| First Element Hydrogen | 🇺🇸 USA | Congruent Ventures, Gigascale Capital. |
| H2Au | 🇿🇦 South Africa | Hosken Consolidated Investments. |
| Top End Energy | 🇦🇺 · ASX: TEE | Serpentine Project, Kansas — >30,000 acres neighbouring Koloma and HyTerra. |
| Terrensis | 🇮🇹 Italy | Backed by Idrogenia. |
| Decahydron | international | Weatherford and green investors. |
| Devil Resources | 🇦🇺 Australia | Joint venture with Koloma; hydrogen, helium and geothermal. |
| Hydroma | 🇲🇱 Mali | Operates Bourakébougou — the only site in the world producing natural hydrogen for practical use, powering a village since 2012. |
LINK 3 OF 6
Drilling & well services
Who puts the hole in the ground. Almost entirely borrowed from oil and gas.
There is, as yet, no drilling contractor specialised in natural hydrogen. Explorers hire conventional oil-and-gas rigs and services, with adaptations for a much smaller molecule. Expect this to become a distinct specialism only once several fields reach development.
| Company | Base | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| SLB (Schlumberger) | 🇺🇸 / 🇫🇷 | Full well construction, borehole seismic, reservoir performance. The default integrated provider. |
| Halliburton | 🇺🇸 USA | Drilling, evaluation, completion; Neftex geological data upstream. |
| Baker Hughes | 🇺🇸 USA | Drilling services and hydrogen-compatible compression and turbomachinery downstream. |
| Weatherford | 🇺🇸 / 🇨🇭 | Well construction and completion; investor in Decahydron. |
| Nabors Industries | 🇺🇸 USA | Land drilling contractor active in energy-transition drilling. |
| COSL | 🇨🇳 China | China Oilfield Services; large integrated contractor. |
| BGP Inc. | 🇨🇳 China | CNPC geophysical arm; land seismic acquisition at scale. |
| Regional land drillers | various | Most natural hydrogen wells to date have been drilled by regional contractors under explorer supervision, not by the majors. |
🔧 What is technically different about a hydrogen well
Hydrogen is the smallest molecule there is. It passes through elastomer seals that hold methane comfortably, and it can embrittle certain high-strength steels over time. Wells need adapted casing metallurgy, different elastomers and gas-tight completions. None of this is exotic — the helium industry has handled it for decades — but it is not standard oilfield kit either.
LINK 4 OF 6
Electrolyser manufacturers
Who makes hydrogen from electricity. The green route’s entire upstream.
This link exists only on the green route. Chinese manufacturers hold the top capacity positions; European manufacturers hold most of the large European project awards, helped by the Net-Zero Industry Act and a 40 GW EU installation target for 2030. Consolidation is under way — John Cockerill took a stake in and then acquired McPhy assets in 2025.
| Company | Base · technology | Scale and notes |
|---|---|---|
| LONGi Hydrogen | 🇨🇳 China · ALK | Among the largest manufacturing capacities globally; tier 1 by planned capacity to 2030. |
| PERIC Hydrogen | 🇨🇳 China · ALK | Long-established Chinese alkaline manufacturer; tier 1. |
| Sungrow Hydrogen | 🇨🇳 China · ALK / PEM | Tier 1 by capacity; leverages the group’s inverter and renewables business. |
| thyssenkrupp nucera | 🇩🇪 Germany · ALK | Chlor-alkali heritage; large-scale alkaline. 1.4 GW for green iron production. Acquired Green Hydrogen Systems’ pressurised alkaline IP and test facility, June 2025. |
| John Cockerill Hydrogen | 🇧🇪 Belgium · pressurised ALK | ~1 GW/year capacity post-acquisitions. 5 MW single-stack pressurised unit. 1.3 GW order from AM Green (India), October 2024. $134.5M capital increase June 2025. Cockerill Jingli JV in Suzhou since 2018. |
| Nel ASA | 🇳🇴 Norway · ALK / PEM | Long-established; both technologies; expanded large-electrolyser focus in 2026. |
| Plug Power | 🇺🇸 USA · PEM | Integrated: electrolysers, liquefaction, fuelling. |
| Siemens Energy | 🇩🇪 Germany · PEM | Silyzer line; grid-scale integration; ~500 MW annual capacity. |
| ITM Power | 🇬🇧 UK · PEM | First hydrogen company listed on the LSE (2001). 100 MW project with Shell. |
| Sunfire | 🇩🇪 Germany · ALK & SOEC | 100 MW alkaline for RWE’s Nukleus phase 3; 10 MW for Repsol in Spain. Leading solid-oxide developer. |
| Topsoe | 🇩🇰 Denmark · SOEC | High-temperature steam electrolysis — the technology that can absorb Fischer-Tropsch waste heat. SOEC for Forestal’s Triskelion e-methanol plant, October 2025. |
| Bloom Energy | 🇺🇸 USA · SOEC | ~500 MW annual SOEC capacity; reversible fuel cells; 80–90% efficiency with heat recovery. |
| McPhy Energy | 🇫🇷 France · ALK | 80 MW for the Hy Lion e-methanol project in Scotland. Assets acquired by John Cockerill in 2025. |
| Cummins (Accelera) | 🇺🇸 USA · PEM | HyLYZER modular PEM; supplying HysetCo (Air Liquide, Idex, STEP, Toyota). |
| HydrogenPro | 🇳🇴 Norway · ALK | Pressurised alkaline; large-stack focus. |
| Ohmium | 🇺🇸 / 🇮🇳 · PEM | Modular PEM, manufacturing in India. |
| Enapter | 🇩🇪 Germany · AEM | Anion exchange membrane — a fourth technology family, modular and small-scale. |
| Hystar | 🇳🇴 Norway · PEM | Thin-membrane PEM; 100 MW design collaboration with McDermott. |
⚙ Four technology families, and why it matters downstream
ALK (alkaline) is cheapest and most mature but slower to follow variable power. PEM is more efficient and responds fast to intermittent renewables. SOEC runs at 700–900°C and reaches the highest efficiency — but only if you can feed it heat, which is exactly what a Fischer-Tropsch reactor produces. AEM is the newest, aiming at PEM performance without iridium. For an e-fuel plant, SOEC plus FT heat integration is the combination that reaches ~70% power-to-liquid.
LINK 5 OF 6
Catalyst manufacturers
The least visible link, and arguably the most decisive. Nothing converts without it.
Catalysts are where hydrogen and CO₂ actually become fuel. The sector consolidated sharply in 2026: Honeywell completed its acquisition of Johnson Matthey’s Catalyst Technologies business in July 2026 for £1.325 billion, folding one of the two historic leaders into an automation group.
5a · Methanol synthesis catalysts (Cu/Zn/Al)
| Supplier | Base | Product line and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson Matthey → Honeywell | 🇬🇧 → 🇺🇸 | KATALCO 51-series, incl. KATALCO 51-102. Acquired by Honeywell July 2026 (£1.325bn). 14 methanol plants in China above 1.8 Mt/yr. |
| Topsoe | 🇩🇰 Denmark | MK-121, MK-151 FENCE. Deep synthesis-loop experience and shutdown technical service. |
| Clariant | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | MegaMax 700/800/900. MegaMax 900 started up at European Energy’s Kassø e-methanol plant, April 2025 — up to 42,000 t/yr green methanol. |
| BASF | 🇩🇪 Germany | Well placed on CO₂-rich, water-tolerant e-methanol duty. Collaboration with Envision Energy on green H₂ and CO₂ conversion, January 2024. |
| Mitsubishi Gas Chemical | 🇯🇵 Japan | M5-5, M6 series. |
| Sinopec Catalyst | 🇨🇳 China | Dominant domestically; methanol-to-olefins applications. |
5b · Fischer-Tropsch catalysts (iron and cobalt based)
| Supplier | Base | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Sasol | 🇿🇦 South Africa | Cobalt-based technology. With Shell, roughly 35% of the FT wax catalyst market. Seventy years of continuous FT operation since Sasolburg, 1955. |
| Shell Catalysts & Technologies | 🇳🇱 / 🇬🇧 | Cobalt-based; also syngas cleanup and guard beds protecting downstream synthesis catalysts. |
| Topsoe | 🇩🇰 Denmark | High-performance iron-based catalysts for low-temperature wax production. |
| Johnson Matthey → Honeywell | 🇬🇧 → 🇺🇸 | Iron-based low-temperature FT; now inside Honeywell. |
| Synfuels China | 🇨🇳 China | Major regional player, competitive pricing, tailored Asian-market solutions. |
| China Energy Corporation | 🇨🇳 China | Large-scale CTL and FT catalyst capability. |
| Clariant & BASF | 🇨🇭 / 🇩🇪 | Gaining ground through patented formulations. |
| CNPC / Sinopec | 🇨🇳 China | Expanding into Middle Eastern and African markets via partnerships. |
5c · Syngas, reforming and cleanup catalysts
| Supplier | Base | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Clariant | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | Plus series launched November 2024: ReforMax LDP Plus, ShiftMax 217 Plus, AmoMax 10 Plus — lower energy consumption in H₂, methanol and ammonia plants. |
| Axens | 🇫🇷 France | Syngas cleanup and guard-bed layer; process licensing. |
| Shell Catalysts & Technologies | 🇳🇱 / 🇬🇧 | Feed purification protecting synthesis catalysts. |
| KBR | 🇺🇸 USA | Ammonia and syngas process technology. |
| Haohua / China Catalyst Holding | 🇨🇳 China | Domestic Chinese supply. |
5d · Electrolysis catalysts and coatings (platinum-group layer)
| Supplier | Base | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson Matthey → Honeywell | 🇬🇧 → 🇺🇸 | Catalyst-coated membranes for PEM; platinum and iridium group metals. |
| Umicore | 🇧🇪 Belgium | PGM catalysts and recycling — strategically important given iridium scarcity for PEM. |
| Heraeus Precious Metals | 🇩🇪 Germany | Iridium and ruthenium catalysts for PEM electrolysis. |
| De Nora | 🇮🇹 Italy | Electrode coatings; co-parent of thyssenkrupp nucera. |
| Tanaka Kikinzoku | 🇯🇵 Japan | PGM catalyst supply for fuel cells and electrolysis. |
⚠ The bottleneck nobody talks about
PEM electrolysers need iridium — one of the rarest metals on Earth, produced almost entirely as a by-product of South African platinum mining, at roughly 7–9 tonnes a year globally. Scaling PEM to gigawatts collides with that. It is a large part of why alkaline and SOEC remain in the picture, and why recycling capability of the Umicore kind is strategically significant rather than merely virtuous.
LINK 6 OF 6
Fuel producers & technology licensors
Where both routes end up. The plants that turn hydrogen into something you can pour.
This is the shared destination. A Fischer-Tropsch reactor does not care whether its hydrogen arrived from an electrolyser or a wellhead.
| Company | Base | Position |
|---|---|---|
| INERATEC | 🇩🇪 Germany | Modular containerised FT. ERA ONE at Frankfurt-Höchst, operational June 2025 — Europe’s first commercial PtL plant, 2,500 t/yr. JV with Rheinmetall for defence and critical infrastructure, June 2025. |
| European Energy | 🇩🇰 Denmark | Kassø e-methanol plant, up to 42,000 t/yr — the world’s largest green methanol facility. Long-term supply to Maersk. Clariant MegaMax 900 catalyst. |
| Sasol | 🇿🇦 South Africa | The reference operator: continuous FT production since 1955. Also a catalyst supplier — see link 5. |
| Topsoe | 🇩🇰 Denmark | Technology licensor across methanol, ammonia and SOEC. Triskelion e-methanol agreement with Forestal, October 2025. |
| HIF Global | 🇨🇱 Chile / 🇺🇸 | Haru Oni, Punta Arenas — methanol-to-gasoline e-fuel. Porsche and Siemens Energy involvement. |
| Norsk e-Fuel | 🇳🇴 Norway | Mosjøen PtL e-kerosene project. Sunfire, Aker, Carbon Transition. |
| Repsol | 🇪🇸 Spain | 100% renewable gasoline at industrial scale, Tarragona. Nexa 95 at 30 Spanish service stations. Co-developed the HORSE H12 engine. |
| Yara | 🇳🇴 Norway | World’s largest ammonia producer. Yara Eyde — first commercial ammonia-powered container vessel, Oslo–Hamburg, 2026. |
| Johnson Matthey → Honeywell | 🇬🇧 → 🇺🇸 | Methanol and FT process licensing alongside catalyst supply. |
| Linde · Toyo · Methanol Casale · MHI | various | Methanol reactor and process licensors — Variobar, MRF-Z and related designs. |
⚠ How to use this directory — and how not to
It is not exhaustive. Around 27 companies identify as natural hydrogen explorers and over 150 as electrolyser manufacturers or integrators. This lists those with a documented position, not everyone in the field.
It dates quickly. This sector reorganises by the quarter — Honeywell absorbed Johnson Matthey’s catalyst business in July 2026, John Cockerill absorbed McPhy’s in 2025. Verify before relying on any entry.
Funding is not production. Koloma has raised roughly $403 million and no commercial natural hydrogen well exists anywhere in the world. Capital raised measures conviction, not resource.
Inclusion is not endorsement. Entries are drawn from public sources. BESS Energie SRL has no commercial relationship with, and no financial interest in, any company listed here.
Two industries, one downstream. Whoever wins the argument about where hydrogen should come from, the same catalyst pellets and the same reactors will be waiting at the other end.
e-fuels.ai · World directory · August 2026
Directory
Reference
Electrolysers
Catalysts
Natural Hydrogen
White Hydrogen
Green Hydrogen
Drilling
Geoscience
Fischer-Tropsch
E-Methanol
2026
Sources — all verified 3 August 2026
→ Tracxn — Natural Hydrogen Generation companies, July 2026 — 27 companies, 14 funded, 9 at Series A+
→ NatH2Investing — company and investor mapping, 2026 — backers by company
→ Spherical Insights — syngas catalyst market, July 2026 — Honeywell completes Johnson Matthey Catalyst Technologies acquisition, £1.325bn
→ Future Market Insights — methanol catalysts market, 2026 — supplier positioning; Clariant MegaMax 900 at Kassø, April 2025
→ IntelMarketResearch — Fischer-Tropsch wax catalyst market — Sasol and Shell ~35% combined share
→ Blackridge Research — global electrolyser manufacturers; Enerdata — 156 manufacturers identified worldwide
→ Getech — natural hydrogen service offering and European Commission mapping mandate, 2026
→ Geoscientist (Geological Society) — CGG, Halliburton Neftex and Getech redeploying geological databases to hydrogen
→ Mantle8 — €31M Series A; €2.06M EU award March 2026
→ Enki AI — Koloma ~$403M raised; European electrolyser manufacturer landscape
→ SNS Insider — geophysical services market, July 2026 — contractor landscape
→ RSC Energy & Environmental Science — Power-to-Liquid review — methanol catalyst suppliers and reactor licensors
→ FDE — PTH-2 Lorraine, 49.6% H₂ at 2,426 m — 23 June 2026 — actusnews.com
⚖ Editorial note & disclaimers
Compiled from public sources as at 3 August 2026. Company positions, ownership, funding and capacity figures change frequently in this sector and should be verified directly with the companies concerned before any commercial or investment decision.
No relationship disclosed: BESS Energie SRL has no commercial relationship with, and no financial interest in, any organisation listed. Inclusion reflects documented public activity, not endorsement, and omission implies no judgement.
Belgium: BE.Hydrogen is a geological survey programme. No natural hydrogen accumulation, flow or commercially exploitable resource has been confirmed on Belgian territory to date.
Informational only. Not investment, legal or commercial advice. © 2026 BESS Energie SRL · BCE 0698.949.732 · e-fuels.ai
⚙ AI Transparency · EU Regulation 2024/1689 (AI Act) · art. 50
This directory was compiled with the assistance of an artificial intelligence system (Claude, Anthropic). This notice applies to all editorial content on this site, including automatically published content. Informational only — verify official sources before any decision.