Key Highlights

  • HyTerra has secured exclusivity to negotiate a commercial agreement over Block 1, covering about 256 square kilometres in RAK South.
  • The exclusivity arises under a memorandum of understanding with the Ras Al Khaimah Department of Energy, which has responsibility for hydrogen.
  • A subsurface data package and commercial term sheet are expected within 14 days of the announcement.
  • The MOU does not grant exploration tenure and does not commit HyTerra to drilling or material exploration spending.

HyTerra Ltd (ASX:HYT) has secured exclusivity to negotiate a commercial agreement over Block 1, an area of approximately 256 square kilometres in the RAK South region of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, according to an announcement dated 12 November 2026. The exclusivity sits within a memorandum of understanding signed with the emirate's Department of Energy, the energy-sector regulator responsible for hydrogen. The arrangement gives the company a pathway to assess natural hydrogen potential along the Semail Ophiolite, although it does not grant any exploration tenure or licence.

The geology and earlier work in the area

The Semail Ophiolite extends across Oman and the UAE and contains extensive ultramafic rocks that can generate hydrogen through water-rock reactions such as serpentinisation. The ophiolite exposes about 20,000 square kilometres of Late Cretaceous oceanic crust and upper mantle, in places up to about 15 kilometres thick. Previous exploration and technical studies in Ras Al Khaimah have identified potential natural hydrogen plays, and third-party surface sampling has recorded hydrogen-rich gas seeps containing up to about 88 percent hydrogen after air correction.

The area also has an established energy setting. Decades of oil and gas exploration have produced an extensive subsurface dataset and technical capability, and RAK South is located close to industrial areas and existing gas infrastructure. The UAE's National Hydrogen Strategy targets production of 1.4 million tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen a year by 2031, providing a policy backdrop for the work, although the link between that target and any natural hydrogen resource is untested.

What the memorandum covers

Under the MOU, HyTerra will work with the Department of Energy to review the geology and subsurface of the exclusive area, review available geophysical data, undertake laboratory analysis of geological samples, develop integrated models of hydrogen generation and prospectivity, and prepare conceptual exploration and well designs. The department will provide an existing subsurface data package within 14 days and will then share a commercial term sheet that would form the basis of Heads of Terms.

The exclusive right to negotiate runs from signing until the earlier of 180 days after the technical work is completed or the MOU expires. The MOU has an 18-month term. Its exclusivity, confidentiality, intellectual property, indemnity, termination and dispute resolution provisions are binding, while the remainder is non-binding in relation to any commercial agreement.

Risks and the limits of the agreement

The announcement is clear that there is no certainty HyTerra and the department will enter into a binding commercial agreement, nor about the terms, scope or timing of one. The MOU does not commit the company to drilling or to material exploration expenditure, and future work will depend on technical evaluation and ranking of the opportunity.

The broader risks are also significant. Geologic hydrogen is an emerging sector without an established commercial development analogue or pricing benchmark. The presence, concentration, flow rate and recoverability of hydrogen remain uncertain, and the company will need to address land access, permitting and funding before any development could proceed. HyTerra is also developing a separate Oman opportunity with ARA Natural Resources, and its US portfolio in Kansas carries its own geological and permitting risks.

Final Word

The Ras Al Khaimah agreement gives HyTerra a defined route to evaluate a second opportunity along the Semail Ophiolite, using existing subsurface data and a government counterpart. Its value will depend on the content of the data package, the commercial terms that follow and the results of the technical work. Until those steps are completed, the exclusivity should be understood as an option to negotiate rather than an exploration asset.