Koloma’s Luzon Hydrogen Surveys Draw New Investor Interest as Philippines Expands Exploration Strategy

The Philippines is seeing growing investor interest in natural hydrogen exploration following geological surveys conducted by US-based Koloma in Luzon, with the Department of Energy (DOE) now looking to expand exploration activity and establish a regulatory framework for potential projects in Mindanao.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said Koloma's exploration results have attracted attention from additional companies interested in evaluating the country's native hydrogen potential, strengthening the government's efforts to diversify domestic energy resources.

According to Garin, Koloma has completed seismic and other geological surveys that have generated data indicating the presence of hydrogen within its exploration areas.

The company has also been discussing potential applications for the resource with the DOE, including electricity generation and fertilizer production.

Those potential uses are particularly relevant to the Philippines, where locally sourced hydrogen could eventually provide an alternative feedstock for industrial production and contribute to longer-term energy security.

The latest comments follow an extensive geophysical exploration program in northern and western Luzon.

As of July 2026, Koloma had completed approximately 27,976.5 line-kilometres of airborne gravity and magnetic surveys across its service areas.

These surveys are designed to map geological structures and identify features that may be associated with natural hydrogen generation, migration and accumulation.

Airborne gravity and magnetic measurements can help characterize basement geology, structural boundaries and other subsurface features that may be relevant to hydrogen exploration.

However, they do not directly measure hydrogen concentrations or establish the presence of a recoverable gas accumulation.

The DOE's comments indicate that Koloma's broader dataset has produced encouraging evidence of hydrogen in the areas being investigated, although the information provided does not include specific gas concentrations, drilling results, flow rates or resource estimates.

Koloma holds three government-awarded service contracts identified as SC 84, SC 83 and SC 92, covering natural hydrogen exploration opportunities in Pangasinan and Zambales provinces.

These provinces form part of the broader Luzon exploration effort, where the company is evaluating geological formations for their potential to host naturally occurring hydrogen.

Garin indicated that Koloma is seeking additional contracts as its current exploration work approaches a scheduled conclusion in late 2026 or the first quarter of 2027.

That timing suggests the company is considering how to extend its exploration activities beyond its existing contractual program.

The government's interest is also expanding beyond Koloma.

The Philippines has awarded 14 petroleum service contracts, including four native hydrogen contracts, representing a combined US$324 million in potential investment commitments.

The investment figure represents potential activity associated with the awarded contracts rather than capital already deployed or confirmed future expenditure.

The inclusion of native hydrogen within the country's service contract system reflects an effort to establish an investment pathway for a resource category that remains at an early stage of geological and commercial evaluation worldwide.

At the Philippine Energy Investment Forum on October 8, Garin described natural hydrogen as an underexplored resource and identified the Philippines as a prospective location for its development.

The country's geological setting is attracting attention because natural hydrogen can be generated through reactions involving water and iron-bearing minerals, including those found in certain mafic and ultramafic rocks.

Whether those processes have generated commercially meaningful hydrogen accumulations at specific Philippine locations remains a question for exploration and subsurface testing.

Koloma's work is therefore important not only for the geological information being collected but also for its potential to establish a more systematic approach to evaluating native hydrogen across the country.

The DOE is also considering how the resource could support domestic industrial demand if future exploration establishes sufficient volumes and production capability.

Garin specifically highlighted power generation and fertilizer production as possible areas for cooperation with Koloma.

Fertilizer production is a notable downstream opportunity because hydrogen is a key feedstock in ammonia manufacturing.

If natural hydrogen could eventually be produced at suitable scale and cost, it could potentially support domestic ammonia production and reduce reliance on externally sourced hydrogen feedstocks.

The announcement does not identify any planned hydrogen-to-ammonia facility, commercial offtake agreement or production development.

For now, those applications remain part of the government's broader discussion about how a future domestic hydrogen industry might be structured.

The DOE is also working on a regulatory framework for hydrogen exploration and development within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The initiative would establish a pathway for a second regional native hydrogen exploration effort, following the work already underway in Luzon.

This potential expansion is significant because it indicates that the Philippine government's interest is moving beyond individual exploration contracts toward a more geographically diverse national strategy.

Luzon is currently providing the initial exploration dataset, while BARMM could become another area of interest once the necessary regulatory arrangements are established.

Full press release can be found here.