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Think of an iconic image of the petroleum age, and you may well be picturing a fountain of crude spouting hundreds of feet into the air, scattering thousands of barrels around a smashed drilling derrick.From Spindletop — the Texan oilfield whose 1901 blowout kickstarted the oil era and sparked nearby Houston’s transformation into one of America’s biggest cities — to the disaster 109 years later when a gusher on the seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig, such geysers have been synonymous with both the wealth and the damage that hydrocarbons can bestow. Those who hope to remake the energy industry for a zero-emissions world are still looking for their equivalent. Right now, the absence of a gas gusher is the main factor holding back geological hydrogen, a promising fuel that few had given any thought to 12 months ago. For decades, chemists and engineers have argued the simplest molecule, with the formula H2, might supplant the role of oil and gas in providing the heat, energy, and chemical feedstocks on which modern society depends. Only recently have geologists realized the earth’s crust might hold vast quantities of the stuff. It was long assumed that hydrogen’s reactivity would make it vanishingly rare in nature. That view looks much less solid now. Natural processes are probably producing 23 million metric tons a year, according to one paradigm-breaking 2020 study. Unpublished research by the US Geological Survey suggests that’s a gross underestimate: There might be 5 trillion tons below the surface, capable of producing 500 million tons a year, the Financial Times reported last month. That could be sufficient to displace about 40% of current natural gas consumption. The discoveries might spark a “clean energy gold rush,” New Scientist magazine announced in a recent cover story.As with previous gold rushes, the experts in the field are veterans of former booms. Avon McIntyre and Benjamin Mee worked for Shell Plc’s gas business before setting up HyTerra Ltd., focusing on a region of Kansas where an oil driller had found hydrogen was making it harder to set the cement needed to seal up well holes. Their leases appear to contain about 238,000 tons of hydrogen and 470 million cubic feet of helium, according to a prospective resource assessment issued to the Australian Securities Exchange in December.It’s not simply a matter of transferring expertise, however. Petroleum geologists study the sorts of sedimentary rocks that trap oil and gas, but hydrogen appears to be produced when water interacts with iron-rich volcanic minerals, a quite different type of rock, says Mengli Zhang, a former PetroChina Co. geologist now working at the Colorado School of Mines. Finding promising resources is going to necessitate bringing in expertise from the mining industry and even the geothermal power sector, she said.“There is the potential for such discoveries, but we don’t know how likely it will be,” she said. “So far, there are no world-class discoveries.”What’s missing is a Spindletop. It’s precisely the explosive potential of oil and gas reservoirs that makes them economically attractive, according to Arnout Everts, an independent energy consultant based in Kuala Lumpur. Gathering over millions of years in folded, impermeable rock formations deep below the earth, hydrocarbon deposits build up vast pressures that force their riches to the surface the moment a drill bit pierces the rock capping them.Gushers are what guarantee the vast flow rates needed to supply our fuel demands. A study last month in the journal Science described a discovery of an Albanian mine exhaling about 200 tons of hydrogen a year as “one of the largest recorded H2 flow rates to date.” But that would barely move the needle for a typical green ammonia plant, which would consume tens or even hundreds of thousands of tons of hydrogen a year. Hyterra and Gold Hydrogen Ltd., another company which last month reported a helium resource on a hydrogen exploration tenement near Adelaide, are yet to produce flow-rate data. “We have to generate that information with a drill bit,” says HyTerra’s McIntyre. There’s still a path for geological hydrogen to succeed, but it’s not the only route to decarbonizing H2. Chinese companies already claim to be able to produce green hydrogen from splitting water molecules with wind and solar power for less than 20 yuan ($2.78) per kilogram, with prices worldwide expected to decline toward $1/kg as the technology rolls out this decade. Mined green hydrogen will need to decisively undercut those numbers if it’s to compete.Right now, there’s a gold rush brewing in green H2. If they don’t hit pay dirt, though, the current wave of prospectors will move on to the next hot commodity. Geological hydrogen is enjoying its moment in the sun. It had better start showing results soon.

The Indian market is poised to maintain its positive momentum, with large-cap stocks expected to outperform the broader market. This trend is indicated by the Nifty vs Nifty 500 ratio reaching its lowest point. Analysts anticipate Nifty to climb towards 22,800, provided it remains above 22,300. Some of the recommended stocks include Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Infosys, Hindalco, Jindal Steel, BEL, Tata Steel, M&M, and BHEL.DHARMESH SHAH HEAD TECHNICALS, ICICI SECURITIESWhere is Nifty headed? Nifty managed to hold 21,800 and recorded a fresh all-time high of 22,463. The index has retraced the past five sessions’ decline in just a single session, highlighting faster retracement that makes us expect it to head towards 22,700. In the process, we expect large-caps to relatively outperform the broader market as the ratio of Nifty vs Nifty 500 has bottomed out around 1 level. Empirically, in a general election year, Nifty had bottomed out in Feb March, followed by a decent rally towards the poll outcome in each of seven instances over the past three decades. Expect Nifty to maintain the trend and head towards 23,400 by June. What should investors do? Bouts of volatility ahead of the election should be capitalised as buying opportunity. Sectorally, BFSI is expected to lead the rally well supported by auto, capital goods, IT, and metal. On the stock front, in large-cap, we prefer RIL, Axis Bank, SBI, Infosys, Hindalco, HAL, Ambuja Cements, and M&M; while in midcaps, Jindal Steel and Power, Delhivery, Coforge, BEL, Vguard, Castrol India, GPPL are looking good.RAJESH PALVIYA HEAD TECHNICAL DERIVATIVES, AXIS SECURITIESWhere is Nifty headed? On weekly chart, Nifty has formed a small bullish candle with a lower shadow, indicating buying near the 20-daily SMA. If Nifty sustains above the 22,300 level, we can expect buying to lead it towards 22,600-22,800 levels. However, if the index breaks below the 22,100 level, it would witness selling, taking the index towards 22,000- 21,850. We expect metal, automobile, real estate, capital goods, defence, and oil & gas to perform well. What should investors do? For investors, we suggest Tata Steel, SAIL, M&M, TVS Motors, Tata Motors, DLF, Godrej Properties, Siemens, BHEL, HAL, ONGC, BPCL, and RIL. Traders can initiate a moderately bullish Bull Call Spread strategy for March 7 expiry. Buy one lot of 22,400 calls at Rs 145 and sell one lot of 22,650 calls at Rs 47, with maximum possible loss of up to Rs 4,900. If Nifty closes above 22,498 on expiry, the strategy will start making a profit. The maximum gain will, however, be restricted at Rs 7,600 only, because of the sold 22,650 strike call.KAPIL SHAH TECHNICAL ANALYST, EMKAY GLOBALWhere is Nifty headed? Nifty has recently experienced a bullish continuation sign as it has broken out from a 10-day consolidation period of 21,800 to 22,200. At present, the index is moving towards its immediate resistance level of 22,500. A ratio chart of Nifty large cap to small cap indicates that Nifty 200 stocks may soon attract significant attention. Meanwhile, the Bank Nifty to Nifty 50 ratio chart suggests that the bank index may emerge from its underperforming phase, with several technical factors indicating its potential for growth. These include the double bottom formation, 100 EMA support, lower band of rising channel, and bullish conformation. What should investors do? It is predicted that Bank Nifty may soon reach its all-time high of around 48,500 level, with private Bank Nifty already having given a breakout from the inverted head & shoulder pattern. Investors can consider stocks such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, AB Capital, and Max Financial Services.

Mumbai: The sizzling rally in shares of Bombay Stock Exchange has catapulted it to becoming the best- performing listed bourse in the world in the past year. Continued surge in trading volumes and signs of its equity derivatives segment picking up have driven shares of Asia's oldest stock exchange by over 400% from the same period a year ago.BSE shares, which are listed on the National Stock Exchange, closed at ₹2352.45 on Saturday. The stock hit an all-time high of ₹2,598.95 on February 5. BSE shares' 430% gains in the past year far exceeds the 35% upmove in US-based Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the second-best performer in the pack London Stock Exchange gained 21%, US-based CME Group rose 19%, Deutsche Boerse advanced 16.7% and Singapore Stock Exchange moved up 8.8% in this period. Shares of Australian Securities Exchange and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing declined in the last 12 months.Analysts said higher cash market volumes have boosted BSE's profitability."The cash volumes on the BSE have increased by up to 50% a day in the past one year, which has also led to higher transaction charges," said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities. "The value of the transactions on BSE have also increased as the share prices have gone up."BSE's net profit in October-December jumped 123.3% and revenue from operations rose 82.2% from last year.Jasani said the exchange's revival of its derivatives segment in the last year by launching Sensex Futures and Options has added to its growth.BSE, under the new management led by CEO Sundararaman Ramamurthy, relaunched Sensex derivatives in May last year after repeated attempts to boost the segment in recent years. So far, NSE has dominated the country's stock F&O trading business. BSE's weekly Sensex contracts attracted trading interest amid the heightened frenzy in equity derivative trading.The exchange's market share in terms of notional turnover stood at 13% and 5% in terms of premium turnover in the country's equity derivatives segment, according to Motilal Oswal Financial Services.The robust initial public offering (IPO) market in the past year has also boosted the country's stock exchanges. India has emerged as the global leader in the number of IPOs in 2023, according to EY India.Brokers see domestic exchanges' prospects remaining stronger as India's weight in global equity indices rise,"There's immense scope for higher volume and participation domestically and globally through higher allocation in emerging index like MSCI in the coming 10 years compared to other international exchanges," said Dharan Shah, founder of Tradonomy, a Mumbai-based investment research advisor.108188617ValuationsThe run-up in share price has also resulted in BSE becoming the most expensively valued listed exchange in terms of price to earnings (PE) ratio. While other global stock exchanges are trading at a PE in the range of 19-27 times their CY24 earnings, BSE trades at 67 times, said Jasani."This is because of its compact equity structure where a small growth in earnings can lead to higher EPS, which may not apply to other exchanges," he said. "For other exchanges, the earnings growth expected is at 5-10% whereas BSE has a growth potential of about 80% in FY25, which is the reason for the higher PE of the stock."Share OutlookAnalysts think there is still some more steam left in the stock price. It will be critical for the stock to cross its current high to extend upsides."Its making a clear flag pattern and a breakout and closing above Rs2600 could lead to a further upside of 16% with a target Rs2925 - 3000 levels," said Shah.RisksWhile a drop in the trading volumes on account of the stock market trend reversal remains the key risk, analysts said its bigger rival NSE's listing could also hurt investor appetite."We may see some setback in this buying interest once NSE may float its IPO, as BSE is enjoying a 'scarcity premium', being the sole listed exchange," said Jasani. "Since the shares of NSE are not freely available in the market, people are rushing in to buy BSE shares and be a party to the gains."