The oil & gas industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by carbon emission concerns, energy transition, and energy security aspects, and growing importance of technologies such as carbon capture, low-carbon hydrogen production, and energy storage. In the last three years alone, there have been over 523,000 patents filed and granted in the oil & gas industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Hydrogen in oil & gas: reformed H2 production. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 196,000 patents to analyze innovation intensity for the oil & gas industry, there are 60+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Reformed H2 production is a key innovation area in hydrogen
Reformed hydrogen production involves the production of hydrogen through the reforming of hydrocarbons, such as natural gas, followed by purification and compression. The reforming process typically involves steam methane reforming (SMR) or auto-thermal reforming (ATR) to produce a synthesis gas, which is then converted into hydrogen through a series of purification steps.
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GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 260+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established oil & gas companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of reformed H2 production.
Key players in reformed H2 production – a disruptive innovation in the oil & gas industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to reformed H2 production
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Air Liquide is one of the leading patent filers for reformed hydrogen production. It is among the largest industrial gas vendor in the world. It is one of the largest producers of hydrogen through autothermal reforming process, which offers a higher rate of carbon capture post syngas formation. Apart from natural gas, the company also employs biogas reforming procedures to produce hydrogen. Some other key patent filers in the space include Linde, ThyssenKrupp, and Panasonic.
In terms of application diversity, Halliburton leads the pack, while Saudi Aramco and Lurgi stood in the second and third positions respectively.
By means of geographic reach, WATT Fuel Cell held the top position, followed by Pentair and Entegris. WATT is primarily a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology developer and manufacturer. The company employs an innovative catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) reforming technique for hydrogen production, which improves the efficiency of its SOFC product offering.
Reformed hydrogen production is the dominant hydrogen production method across the world. Most of this produced hydrogen is locally consumed by the producer, which primarily entail oil & gas and petrochemical companies. Through the addition of carbon capture technologies, reformed hydrogen production method can lead to significant low-carbon hydrogen production.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the oil & gas industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Hydrogen in Oil and Gas.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
