President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed the Philippines’ third natural hydrogen service contract, granting US-based Koloma, Inc. exclusive rights to explore for naturally occurring hydrogen across western Zambales province. The award, Service Contract No. 92, extends Koloma’s exploration footprint in the country to more than 1,600 square miles, or roughly 4,100 square kilometers, across three separate contract areas.
Koloma had already secured Service Contracts 83 and 84 in Central Luzon last October, covering 126,645 and 85,082 hectares respectively. Zambales sits near Mount Pinatubo, the volcano whose 1991 eruption reshaped the region, and was previously home to major US military installations.
The Philippines currently imports the overwhelming majority of its fuel. Government data cited by the Department of Energy showed that up to 98 percent of the country’s crude oil imports came from the Middle East, with about 97 percent of liquid petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, and kerosene sourced from elsewhere in Asia. Any confirmed domestic hydrogen supply would reduce that reliance.
DOE Secretary Sharon Garin said in a statement that the new contract “builds on the ongoing exploration activities in Central Luzon and reflects our commitment to responsibly evaluating the country’s natural hydrogen potential.” She added: “Should commercially viable deposits be confirmed, natural hydrogen could become an important addition to the Philippines’ future energy mix, strengthening energy security, attracting investments, creating new economic opportunities, and providing a zero-emission fuel source for the power sector.”
Koloma CEO Pete Johnson, in comments to Forbes, said the geology of the area is what drew the company’s attention. “The Philippines has the largest natural hydrogen seeps anywhere on the planet,” he said. “We have reason to believe that these seeps are connected to very large accumulations.” He noted that confirming whether the Zambales site can support commercial extraction will take at least two years.
Work is already underway on the earlier contracts. According to BusinessWorld, Koloma has started a 132.6-line-kilometer two-dimensional seismic survey in Pangasinan and, as of June, had completed 27,976.5 line-kilometers of aerogravity and magnetic surveys across northern Zambales and western Pangasinan. Energy Undersecretary Alessandro Sales said processing that data is expected to take four to six months.
The company is projected to invest up to $9 million, or roughly ₱554 million at prevailing exchange rates, to advance the Central Luzon project to the drilling stage by year-end.
Koloma has raised $400 million from investors including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Amazon, according to Forbes, and describes itself as the leading company in the global search for geologic hydrogen, with active exploration in the United States, Australia, and other countries it has not disclosed.
An exploration agreement is not the same as a confirmed discovery. Koloma’s own materials note that service contracts authorize geological studies and exploratory drilling but do not indicate that commercially recoverable hydrogen has been found. Whether Zambales ultimately produces hydrogen at commercial scale will depend on results still years away
