Kansas may hide a 280,000-ton trove of “blue gold” right beneath the surface of the desert. Blue gold is another name for hydreogen, and the recent discovery made in the desert in Kansas may have the potential to reshape America’s energy landscape for the foreseeable future. HyTerra and SK E&S own and operate the site where the discovery has been made, known as the McCoy 1 Well. The well is relatively close to two other wells that HyTerra operates in the region, and thanks to the findings made at those two wells, the new well was drilled even further down, where the discovery was made.
The desert in Kansas holds secrets that are now being discovered by HyTerra
McCoy 1 was drilled to a total depth of 5,562ft mDKB (1,695m), which is significantly deeper than the company has ever drilled before. What they found is truly remarkable and has the potential to rewrite the energy map that is only getting bigger in the United States. The drilling was completed on time, within budget, and no health and safety issues were reported.
“The preliminary McCoy 1 results are encouraging and I’m glad we collected conventional core for analysis. Now we will clean up the wellbore immediately and install downhole monitoring equipment. This is a proactive step and a crucial one to support the design of initial testing plans. We remain safe, data-driven, and methodical in our approach to analysis and subsurface integration. That’s the HyTerra way.” – HyTerra Executive Director, Benjamin Mee
The hydrogen gas that SK E&S found deep beneath the surface in Korea amounts to a vast trove that has an estimated 280,000 tons of the “blue gold” that the world has become enamoured by. Hydrogen comes in a variety of colors, all dependent on how the hydrogen is produced. Blue gold refers to the hydrogen found in the subsurface that is naturally formed through millions of years of geological pressure and movement.
The Nemaha Project just keeps on delivering good news for HyTerra and SK E&S
The McCoy 1 well is not the first project in the area for SK E&S and HyTerra. The energy companies have now drilled three wells back-to-back between April and July 2025. And they applied the learnings from the first two wells to drill even further down for the McCoy well 1 than the previous two wells. They managed to drill through 1,430ft (435m) of sedimentary rocks and 4,132ft (1260m) of Pre-Cambrian basement.
“It’s great to see our Kansas based operational team doing such a great job at safely and efficiently implementing our drilling and well intervention program. To be able to complete a program of three wells and multiple work over rig visits in such a short time, without incident is a testament to our team and operational excellence.” – HyTerra VP Development and Operations, Josh Whitcombe
Several locations across the world have been discovered to have vast troves of the “blue gold” that the world is furiously searching for. We expect the 280,000 tons of hydrogen found at the McCoy 1 well is only the beginning as more energy companies look to expand their renewable energy projects in the not-too-distant future.
Blue Gold is the most valuable commodity in the sector at the moment
While there is still more that needs to be done to improve the extraction processes that are required to access the vast troves of hydrogen right beneath our feet, the discovery is a promising sign that we no longer need to rely on the fossil fuel sector. So long as companies like HyTerra are committed to continue expanding their drilling projects, we expect more blue gold to be discovered in the region in Kansas, and possibly in other regions in the United States and around the world. In the renewable sector, innovation has become the name of the game.
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