Independent report flags Whitebark Energy as top-notch hydrogen-helium play

Independent experts Sproule ERCE have confirmed Whitebark Energy’s Rickerscote prospect in South Australia’s Officer Basin could be a world-class hydrogen and helium play.

The results are in: Whitebark Energy (ASX: WBE) might be sitting on one of the largest untapped hydrogen and helium reserves in the world.

Independent experts from Sproule ERCE have confirmed that Whitebark’s Rickerscote prospect, within the Alinya project in South Australia’s Officer Basin, holds massive gas storage potential.

The target could span anywhere from 200 to an impressive 400 square kilometres of prospective closure and productive area, highlighting its massive scale and significance.

After reviewing the data, the consultant believes Rickerscote could potentially house up to 1.2 billion kilograms of hydrogen and 209 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of helium of prospective resources in the U3 category.

The early study also places the geological chances of success for the green gases at 7 per cent to 17 per cent, leaving plenty of room for improvement.

Whitebark says the report also highlighted some strong geological “green flags” usually associated with successful hydrogen and helium extraction.

First and foremost, the seismic data has clearly identified three top shelf reservoir structures - Munaroo at 900 metres depth, Mulyawarra at 1250m and Pindyin, which sits atop the basement at 1450m.

These sandstone traps each lie beneath 300m of shallow marine mud rocks and are all capped by a high-quality salt seal. The structure is typical of the region’s Alinya formation and has proven extremely effective at containing natural gas in other wells.

Boosting the subsalt play’s credentials, Rickerscote rests on top of a proven basement of radioactive granites that have spent more than 700 million years brewing hydrogen and helium.

These granites are also thought to feed helium and hydrogen at Gold Hydrogen’s Ramsay project on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula and at various projects in the Amadeus Basin.

The independent estimates validate our strong belief in the world-class potential of the Officer Basin. In our view, it is one of the best places in the world to test for conventional natural hydrogen and helium reservoirs, with the right rocks and the right amount of time for such a system to work.

Whitebark Energy Director Richard King

Hydrogen might be the most abundant element in the universe, yet it is rarely found as a free gas. This makes Whitebark’s project exciting as hydrogen emerges as a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition.

At the same time, helium’s price continues to skyrocket on the back of tight global supplies. It has risen nearly 300 per cent to US$300 (A$460) per million cubic feet (Mcf) since 2021.

The noble gas is vital for everything from MRI machines to cutting-edge electronics and space applications, but has one major drawback, it cannot be synthetically produced, leaving industrial users desperate for new sources of supply.

While Rickerscote’s hydrogen and helium potential is making waves, Whitebark’s opportunities don’t stop there. Sproule’s latest report also showed the Officer Basin has the potential to hold as much as 1.06 trillion cubic feet of gas and 145 million barrels of oil.

Given the project’s exceptional geology, in time, exploration success in the region could position Whitebark as a serious producer of hydrocarbons and green energy.

The company is planning to quickly de-risk the project and confirm these early estimates with a soil gas sampling survey, which it is set to complete later in the year.

Whitebark already controls 67 per cent of the project and retains the option to increase its equity to 100 per cent, meaning it could gain full control over this promising asset should the early forecasts prove up.

If Rickerscote delivers, its impact could extend well beyond Whitebark’s balance sheet to potentially reshaping Australia’s energy landscape. With hydrogen and helium resources alongside established hydrocarbons, the project could play a meaningful role in the country’s move toward cleaner energy while contributing to national energy security.

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