Pacheco and Ali released U.S. BLM Technical Note 429 as an assessment of the total estimated helium reserves and resources of the United States. This assessment is made using estimates of natural gas resources from the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) report, Potential Supply of Natural Gas in the United States (December 31, 2006); estimates of proved natural gas reserves from the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Natural Gas Liquids Reserves 2006 Annual Report; IHSInc., cumulative gas production data; and data from previous Helium Resources of the United States reports. This report is part of the Bureau of Land Management’s Amarillo Field Office mission of providing information to the Secretary of the Interior and the public on a limited natural resource that is being depleted.
This report only covers information on helium reserves and resources and does not report on current helium business or other activities that were discussed in previous reports. The report presents a general picture of the current helium resources of the United States and was simplified from previous reports to present a focused view of those resources. Part of the reason for the change was the result of feedback from industry customers that indicated previous reports were hard to analyze. In addition, some of the information that was presented in previous reports is already being reported in the U.S. Geological Survey published Mineral Commodity Summaries and Mineral
Industry Surveys reports.
The total helium reserves and resources of the United States are estimated to be 732 Bcf as of December 31, 2006. This includes estimated measured reserves from previous helium resources reports, plus calculated reserves from DOE/EIA estimates of proved natural gas reserves and IHS Inc., cumulative gas production data, and estimated probable, possible, and speculative helium resources calculated from PGC estimates of natural gas resources for the seven PGC regions. The total resources include approximately 24 Bcf of helium being stored at the Federal Government’s Cliffside Gasfield Reserve in Potter County, Texas.
The authors concluded that according to advances in natural gas extraction and liquification technology, helium extraction and processing is no longer a cost intensive process; in other words, it is not necessary that helium occur in concentrations of 0.3% or more to be economical for production. Helium could occur in very low concentrations and still be processed as an economical product for marketing and sales. Also, the high market price of natural gas and natural gas byproducts, such as nitrogen and helium, is a good incentive for exploration of new gas fields and the production of helium among other gases. The high market prices are a driving force for increased exploration and re-evaluating reserve estimates.
As indicated above, as of December 31, 2006, there were 23.8 Bcf of helium stored in Bush Dome at Cliffside Field. About 22.5 Bcf of the stored helium is owned by the Federal Government and 1.3 Bcf is owned by private companies. There are also approximately 2.3 Bcf of helium contained in the native gas in Bush Dome. The Helium Privatization Act of 1996 requires that Federal Government owned helium in excess of 600 MMcf be offered for sale by January 1, 2015. At the current rate of depletion, the Federal Government Reserve at Cliffside Field is expected to be depleted by 2020.
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