MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. Natural hydrogen production in Russia remains on the table and Gazprom is estimating its reserves in its fields, deputy department head of the Russian gas corporation said at an international conference on hydrogen energy.

"Natural hydrogen is the topic that seems promising for me. I think, without downplaying the technology component of the hydrogen topic, that natural hydrogen production remains on the agenda. We have already completed sampling at some wells at present, found this natural hydrogen but not in quantity we would like to have for some commercial needs. Nevertheless, it is confirmed that it is actually present in subsoil," Konstantin Romanov said.

This refers to associated hydrogen extraction, he noted. First samples at certain Gazprom’s wells saw the hydrogen content just up to 3%.

"I believe we will complete this effort nevertheless by the end of the year. We will then move to the stage of searching, definitely, for options with higher hydrogen concentration. Prospects are high where we have the Yakutian, the Irkutsk production centers," Romanov said.