SPE Technical Section

Hydrogen Technical Section (H2TS)

Connecting people, power and the planet with hydrogen

The Hydrogen Technical Section (H2TS) brings together technical professionals and academia who are active, or have a deep interest, in the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier and a potential new energy source. We focus on knowledge sharing, technology development, and collaboration across the full hydrogen value chain to support the energy transition.

Within SPE, H2TS serves as a focal point for engineers, researchers, and decision-makers who are positioning hydrogen at the heart of the energy transition. The section offers a structured forum to examine how hydrogen and its carriers—such as ammonia—can decarbonize power, industry, and transport, while safely integrating with existing oil and gas infrastructure and leveraging decades of subsurface, facilities, and project experience.

SPE Hydrogen Technical Section

From traditional oil & gas capabilities to tomorrow’s hydrogen systems – one connected SPE community.

H2TS and Hydrogen in the Energy Transition

About H2TS

Within SPE, the Hydrogen Technical Section (H2TS) serves as a focal point for engineers, researchers, and decision-makers who are positioning hydrogen at the heart of the energy transition. The section provides a structured forum to examine how hydrogen and its carriers—such as ammonia—can decarbonize power, industry, and transport, while safely integrating with existing oil and gas infrastructure and leveraging decades of subsurface, facilities, and project experience.

Through study groups, regional working teams, and contributions to conferences and workshops, H2TS helps members interpret evolving technologies, regulations, and market signals in the context of net-zero goals. By connecting insights from carbon management, system integration, and new business models, the section turns scattered hydrogen initiatives into coherent transition pathways that members can apply to accelerate low-carbon solutions.

Hydrogen as a Cornerstone of Net-Zero

Hydrogen is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of net-zero strategies because it can decarbonize sectors that are difficult to electrify directly, such as heavy industry, long-haul transport, and seasonal energy storage. When produced with low or zero emissions and coupled with responsible water and land use, hydrogen and its carriers can complement renewables, stabilize power systems, and extend the value of existing gas infrastructure.

For SPE members, hydrogen offers a natural bridge between today’s oil and gas capabilities and tomorrow’s diversified energy portfolios—turning skills in subsurface engineering, facilities design, safety, and project execution into practical pathways for deep emissions reductions. As standards, policies, and markets continue to evolve, hydrogen also creates new opportunities for innovation, investment, and cross-disciplinary collaboration across the global SPE community.

H2TS Deliverables and Vision 2030

What We Deliver

  • Capability development through online events, networking, workshops, and conferences.
  • Knowledge and best-practice transfer via meetings, technical papers, presentations, and SPE publications, including the H2TS newsletter.
  • Close ties with other SPE sections and regions that enhance energy-transition initiatives across the industry.
  • Closer links between the energy industry and academia through joint projects and forums.
  • Promotion of professionalism, certification, Distinguished Lecturer programming, and nominations for SPE awards.
  • Engagement of young professionals seeking to contribute to a sustainable energy future.
  • Collaboration with other professional organizations on hydrogen R&D, commercialization, transportation, and delivery to end-users.

H2TS Vision 2030

Our Vision 2030 focuses on expanding membership, deepening collaboration within SPE and with external partners, and sustaining a vibrant technical community around hydrogen. It emphasizes execution and empowerment, global outreach, facilitation of knowledge sharing, continuing growth, and professional impact.

SPE Hydrogen Technical Section

Hydrogen as an Energy Carrier

We use the term “energy carrier” to denote all aspects of the hydrogen supply chain including production, transport, storage, and use. Ammonia and other hydrogen-rich compounds are also included for their potential as energy-carrier solutions. There is increasing interest in “natural” hydrogen as an energy source. Hydrogen will play a key role in sustainably meeting our future energy needs, and we invite you to join the technical section to help make it so.

Flow Assurance and Hydrogen Systems
Hydrogen Production Technologies in a Three Horizon Framework

Leadership Messages

Dr. Phaneendra B. Kondapi – Chairperson

Dr. Phaneendra B. Kondapi

Welcome to the SPE Hydrogen Technical Section! Started in 2022, H2TS is one of the latest technical sections championed by Bob Pearson, serving SPE members in enhancing their interest in the growing adoption of hydrogen as a clean energy solution.

Our mission is to engage and collaborate across academia, industry, and SPE; proactively involve students; introduce continuing-education programs; and grow the visibility and influence of H2TS as a go-to technical community for hydrogen.

Under the leadership of founding chair Prof. Chris Kalli and PF Technical Director Greg Stephenson, H2TS has built closer links between industry and academia and continues to create networking opportunities for oil and gas and energy-transition professionals.

Prof. Chris Kalli – Past Chairperson

Petroleum engineers have long been the bridge between geoscience and value creation. The challenges we now face—delivering affordable energy while dramatically reducing emissions—require a shift from traditional paradigms. The skills developed in oil and gas are highly transferrable to hydrogen and other low-carbon energy systems.

Hydrogen, as an energy carrier, will be part of how we sustainably meet global energy needs. H2TS is an invitation to use our proven expertise in new ways and help shape the future hydrogen economy.

Technical Excellence and Recognition

Technical Section Excellence Award 2025

The SPE Hydrogen Technical Section has been awarded the Technical Section Excellence Award for 2025—one of the highest honors a technical section can receive, given to only a small fraction of eligible sections worldwide. This award recognizes H2TS for strong programs in technical dissemination, professional development, member engagement, community involvement, and operations.

SPE Technical Section Excellence Award

Why We Host Events and How We Engage

Why We Host Events

  • Facilitate technical knowledge exchange on hydrogen production, storage, transport, and utilization.
  • Promote cross-disciplinary collaboration among SPE members, partners, and adjacent industries.
  • Enable networking and mentorship within a growing global hydrogen energy community.
  • Showcase real-world case studies that connect hydrogen concepts to practical project delivery.

Event Formats

  • Webinars & virtual panels with technical deep dives, expert roundtables, and audience Q&A.
  • Workshops (in-person or hybrid) focused on hands-on learning, design challenges, and project case histories.
  • Conferences & symposia with keynotes, technical sessions, poster presentations, and panel discussions.
  • Tech talks & student-focused events highlighting emerging technologies, career pathways, and YP leadership.

Together, these formats allow H2TS to reach members across time zones and career stages, creating spaces where engineers, researchers, students, and decision-makers can compare lessons learned, explore new ideas, and build long-term collaborations around hydrogen in the energy transition.

In addition to live sessions, many of our events are recorded or summarized so members can revisit key insights, share them with colleagues, or use them in internal training. By rotating topics across regions and time zones, H2TS also surfaces diverse perspectives—from policy and finance to subsurface, facilities, and operations—ensuring the conversation around hydrogen is grounded in both local realities and global trends. Over time, this growing portfolio of events becomes a living knowledge base that helps SPE members move from concepts to pilot projects, and from pilots to scalable hydrogen solutions integrated into the broader energy system.

Dr. Kalli H2TS Event Photo
SPE Energy Transition Symposium
ATCE Hydrogen Session Tile
Energy Stream Tile 1
Energy Stream Tile 2
Energy Stream Tile 3
Energy Stream Tile 4
Energy Stream Tile 5
Energy Stream Tile 6

Recent Highlights and Past Events

H2TS supports and contributes to a range of SPE technical events and webinars that connect hydrogen topics with subsurface, facilities, and flow-assurance expertise. These highlights illustrate how hydrogen discussions are being embedded into major industry forums and cross-disciplinary conversations.

Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) – May 2025

Dr. Ibrahim K. Muritala, ABS Global Hydrogen Leader and H2TS Membership Chair, presented “Guiding the Transition: A Conceptual Framework for Offshore Green Hydrogen Production on Oil and Gas Platforms” (OTC-35801-MS) in Houston, Texas. The talk outlined how existing offshore assets and project frameworks can be repurposed to host green hydrogen systems while managing safety, integrity, and long-term performance.

OTC Presentation

SPE Symposium: Hydrogen and Hydrogen-Based Fuels – Jakarta 2025

At the second edition of the symposium themed “Unleashing the Potential of Low-Carbon Hydrogen: Innovation, Infrastructure, and Implementation”, H2TS leaders served as session chair and panelist, contributing perspectives on hydrogen shipping, technology pathways, and global trade. The sessions emphasized how regional strategies in Asia–Pacific link to global value chains for ammonia, derivatives, and hydrogen-based fuels.

Jakarta Symposium

Gaia Masterclass & SPE Live

H2TS has co-hosted sessions such as the Gaia Masterclass “Natural vs Artificial Hydrogen Production: Real-World Success Stories and Applications” and the SPE Live episode “Hydrogen in Action – Today’s Use Cases and What We Might See by 2050”. These programs bring together experts on geologic (“natural”) hydrogen, green hydrogen, and emerging value chains, helping members navigate both the scientific frontiers and the practical realities of project development.

Gaia Masterclass & SPE Live

Roles, Initiatives, and Global Representation

Oil & Gas as a Bridge for Hydrogen

  • Leveraging existing infrastructure, asset utilization, and operational expertise.
  • Bridging the technology gap with transitional solutions that blend traditional and emerging technologies, underpinned by rich carbon-management experience.
  • MENA H2TS Work Group to advance low-carbon hydrogen collaboration and best practices in the region.

Innovative Activities

  • H2TS Study Group, a forum for critical and emerging issues in hydrogen (production, storage, policy, geopolitics) with regular briefings and synthesis.
  • MENA Hydrogen Technical Section Working Group, led by Suhail Diaz Valderrama – empowering young professionals and shaping hydrogen’s role in the MENA energy transition.

Global Representation

H2TS Board members and liaisons represent regions across the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia–Pacific, reflecting the global deployment of hydrogen technologies and skills. This geographic spread helps ensure that H2TS discussions capture both mature and emerging hydrogen markets, local policy frameworks, and a wide range of technical perspectives.

SPE H2TS Global Representation Map

Hydrogen Resources and Reading

Key Reference Reports

  • IEA – The Future of Hydrogen and Global Hydrogen Review.
  • U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Program Plan and National Clean Hydrogen Strategy.
  • Hydrogen storage, carriers, and infrastructure briefings from DOE webinars and technical reports.
  • Corporate perspectives from ExxonMobil, Chevron, and technology providers such as Babcock & Wilcox.

Hydrogen 2025: Reading & Technical Papers

  • SPE technical papers on techno-economic optimization of underground hydrogen storage in aquifers and deep-learning-accelerated optimization methods.
  • Articles on hydrogen’s role in industrial decarbonization, underground storage frameworks, and natural (white / gold) hydrogen exploration.
  • Insights on coupling electrolysers with offshore wind, hydrogen shipping supply chains, and unlocking offshore hydrogen opportunities.

Get Involved and Connect with H2TS

Whether you work in subsurface engineering, facilities, flow assurance, policy, finance, or academia, there is a place for you in H2TS. Join us to collaborate on projects, contribute to webinars and panels, and build the skills needed for a low-carbon hydrogen future.

SPE H2TS Young Professionals Committee
SPE H2TS Young Professionals live session

Listen what our YP members say

Introducing the SPE H2TS Young Professionals Committee

SPE H2TS has officially launched its Young Professionals (YP) Committee, making it the first-ever YP Committee created across all 24 Technical Sections of the Society of Petroleum Engineers International (SPE).

We welcome the new Young Professionals to the inaugural H2TS YP Committee. These YPs hail from four different countries across the globe, making this a truly international committee.

As the first-ever YP Committee in an SPE Technical Section, our mission at SPE H2TS goes beyond professional development. Our dynamic young leaders are committed to actively engaging with student chapters worldwide to share their knowledge, industry experiences, and passion for clean energy solutions.

Join the Technical Section

If you are already an SPE member, log in to your SPE profile, navigate to Technical Sections, and select the Hydrogen Technical Section (H2TS).

If you are new to SPE, visit www.spe.org to join the society and add H2TS to your membership.

Click here to Join us on SPE Connect.

Stay Connected

  • Visit the H2TS LinkedIn page for news, posts, and event highlights.
  • Join the H2TS LinkedIn discussion group and SPE Connect community.
  • Subscribe to SPE / H2TS webinars and replays via SPE Energy Stream.
  • Watch recordings of H2TS-related sessions from SPE events and masterclasses.
Click here to Join us on LinkedIn.

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