H
ELIUM
By Norbert Pacheco
1
Grade-A helium (99.995% or better purity) sales volumes by
private industry were 89.6 million cubic meters
2
(3,230 million
cubic feet) in the United States in 2000 (table 1). Grade-A
helium exports by private producers were 37.0 million cubic
meters (1,330 million cubic feet) for total sales of 126.6 million
cubic meters (4,564 million cubic feet) of U.S. helium, about an
8% increase from 1999. For 2000, domestic helium sales
growth remained relatively stable. However, helium exports
increased significantly. The increase in exported helium was
mostly due to increased European demand for helium.
Legislation and Government Programs
The Federal Helium Program was established to provide all
Federal agencies with current and estimated future helium needs
to carry out Government programs authorized and funded by the
U.S. Congress. The major Federal helium customers were the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S.
Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
On October 9, 1996, the Helium Privatization Act of 1996
(Public Law 104-273) was signed into law. This legislation
directed the Federal Helium Program to discontinue production
and sale of refined helium by April 9, 1998. Some of the
remaining key components of this legislation and applicable
status updates are as follows:
• Dispose of all assets related to helium production, refining,
and sales not later than 24 months after helium refinery
closing.
STATUS: A historical review was initiated in June 1999, and
reports were completed in August 1999. The phase 1
environmental site assessment was initiated in early 1999, and
reports were completed in July 1999. The National Park
Service was preparing a historic architectural engineering
report on the Amarillo and Exell Plants. Additionally, an
application was been filed with the Texas Voluntary
Compliance Program for the Landis property, and a contractor
was secured for sampling and assessment. Property disposal
actions continued.
1
Team Leader, Resources Evaluation, Bureau of Land Management,
Amarillo Field Office - Helium Operations, Amarillo, TX.
2
All metric helium volumes herein reported are at 101.325 kilopascals
absolute (14.696 pounds per square inch absolute) and 15° C (59° F). Helium
volumes, reported in parentheses following metric units, are measured in cubic
feet at 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute and 70° F—1,000 cubic feet (14.7
pounds per square inch absolute and 70° F) = 27.737 cubic meters (101.325
kilopascals absolute and 15° C) and 1 cubic meter (101.325 kilopascals and 15°
C) = 36.053 cubic feet (14.7 pounds per square inch absolute and 70° F).
• Begin selling Federal crude helium reserves in excess of
16.6 million cubic meters (600 million cubic feet) on or
before January 1, 2005, and complete sales by January 1,
2015.
STATUS: Crude helium sales (in kind) for helium that is sold
known as the Bush Dome) would become the only helium
storage reservoir in the world.
In the 1950s, optimism about future markets for helium
developed, and helium began to be considered as a resource
during the cold war. Widespread use led to the Helium Act of
1960, which created the Helium Conservation Program,
allowing for private helium production. As a result, five new
private helium extraction plants were built over the next several
years. From 1963 to 1973, the U.S. Government purchased
helium from the private producers and stored it in Bush Dome.
The helium industry continued to grow as more uses for helium
were discovered. By 1996, 14 private companies owned a total
of 20 helium plants, and U.S. helium consumption had grown
to 2.6 billion standard cubic feet per year.
In 2000, the United States still led the world in helium
production, accounting for about 80% of world output. Twelve
U.S. private companies owned and operated 21 domestic
helium production plants. U.S. helium consumption had grown
to over 3.4 billion standard cubic feet per year, and demand for
helium continued to grow worldwide. By then, helium uses
included cryogenics, pressurizing and purging, welding,
atmospheric control, leak detection, breathing mixtures, lifting,
and medical applications.
In 1900, helium was essentially unknown. Even though it
was first detected during the solar eclipse of August 18, 1868,
and it was found to exist in rather large quantities in natural
gas wells of the midcontinental United States, commercial
recovery of helium did not develop until the onset of World
War I. At that time, the British Government became
interested in helium as a lifting gas and initiated a research
program at the University of Toronto. By 1918, a small
experimental plant was operating near Hamilton, Ontario.
When the United States entered World War I, the task of
establishing a domestic source of helium was given to the U.S.
Bureau of Mines. In 1921, the first full scale U.S. helium
production plant was completed near Forth Worth, TX, where
about 47 million standard cubic feet of helium was produced
from the Petrolia Field. It operated until 1929. Because the
U.S. Navy was using almost all of the helium produced in the
country for the Airship Program, the Bureau of Mines built a
new plant near Amarillo, TX, which could produce as much as
25 million cubic feet per year of helium. Later, the Bureau of
Mines built the Exell plant, also in Texas, which eventually
became its last operating plant. These two plants extracted
helium from natural gas produced from the Government’s
Cliffside Field. Later, the Cliffside Field reservoir (also
Helium in the 20th Century
HELIUM—2000
37.1
to Federal agencies and their contractors by private companies
began in January 1998. Open-market sales of crude helium
were reviewed in a legislatively mandated study conducted by
the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concerning the
impact on national, scientific, and military interests. The
NAS study was completed in March 2000. Helium
regulations, however, are being developed and, once in place,
will be used to guide open-market sales of the crude helium.
• Continue operation of the helium storage field system, which
includes the storage field and the crude helium pipeline used
for storage and distribution of Government-owned and
privately owned crude helium.
• Continue collection of helium royalties and fees from sales of
helium extracted from gas produced from Federal lands.
• Continue helium resource evaluation and reserve tracking to
monitor helium availability for essential Government
programs.
• Complete land transfer to the Texas Plains Girl Scouts
Council.
STATUS: Historical and archeological reviews and
environmental assessments were being carried out and were
expected to be completed by August 2001.
Production
In 2000, 12 companies operated 21 privately owned domestic
helium plants, 15 of which extracted helium from natural gas
(table 2; figures 1, 2). All but two extraction plants used
cryogenic extraction processes. The total sales of U.S. produced
helium increased by 12.0% compared with that of 1999. All
natural gas processed for helium recovery came from gasfields
in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
During 2000, 11 private plants purified helium by using
pressure swing adsorption technology. Nine privately owned
plants that produced grade-A helium also liquefied helium. The
plant operators and plant locations are listed in table 2.
Domestic production data for helium were developed by the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from records of its own
operations, as well as from its own high-purity helium survey, a
single voluntary canvass of private U.S. operations. Of the nine
operations to which a survey request was sent, 100% responded.
Those data plus data from BLM operations represent 100% of
the total helium sales and recovery data listed in table 3.
Domestic measured helium reserves and indicated helium
resources as of January 1, 2000, were estimated to be 8.9 billion
cubic meters (323 billion cubic feet). The resources include
measured helium reserves estimated to be 4.1 billion cubic
meters (147 billion cubic feet) in natural gas from which helium
is being extracted. The measured reserves included nearly 951
million cubic meters (34.3 billion cubic feet) stored by the BLM
in the helium storage conservation system. Measured helium
reserves from indicated resources of natural gas with helium
content greater than 0.05% are estimated to be 1.8 billion cubic
meters (65 billion cubic feet). Indicated helium resources, a
category of reserves slightly less certain than measured reserves,
in natural gas with less than 0.3% helium were estimated to be
3.1 billion cubic meters (111 billion cubic feet). The majority of
these indicated reserves were derived from the Potential Gas
Committee designation of unconfirmed/probable reserves
(Curtis, 2000, p. 2-3). Approximately 2.6 billion cubic meters
(94 billion cubic feet), or 98% of the domestic helium reserves
that are under Federal ownership from which helium is being
extracted, is located in the Riley Ridge area in Wyoming and the
Cliffside Field in Texas.
The changes in how the helium reserves have been reported
above are meant to provide the reader a better view of the
helium reserves from which helium is being extracted. The 4.1
billion cubic meters (147 billion cubic feet) is estimated helium
reserves that can be extracted from natural gas production over
the expected life of gasfields from which gas is currently being
produced. The 1.8 billion cubic meters (65 billion cubic feet) is
estimated measured helium reserves in gasfields, from some of
which helium could be extracted in the future. The 3.1 billion
cubic meters (111 billion cubic feet) is indicated helium
resources in probable/unconfirmed natural gas resources from
which helium is not likely to be extracted.
Most of the domestic helium resources are in the
midcontinent and the Rocky Mountain regions of the United
States. The measured helium reserves are in approximately 102
gasfields in 11 States. About 97% of these reserves are
contained in the Hugoton Field in Oklahoma, Kansas, and
Texas; the Panoma Field in Kansas; the Keyes Field in
Oklahoma; the Panhandle West and the Cliffside Fields in
Texas; and the Riley Ridge area in Wyoming. During 2000, the
BLM analyzed 506 natural gas samples from 4 States in
conjunction with its program to survey and identify possible
new sources of helium.
Consumption
In 2000, private industry supplied 100% of the domestic
demand. The major domestic end uses of helium were
cryogenics (24.4%), pressurizing and purging (19.9%), welding
(18.2%), and controlled atmospheres (16.0%). Minor uses
included leak detection (5.6%), synthetic breathing mixtures
(3.1%), and chromatography/lifting gas/heat transfer (total
12.8%) (figure 3). Cryogenics, specifically magnetic resonance
imaging applications, dominated liquid helium use. Estimated
2000 domestic consumption by end use was based on a 1996
end-use survey conducted by BLM Helium Operations to
determine the trends in helium usage.
New regulations, effective November 23, 1998, concerning
in-kind crude helium sales were published in 43 CFR chapter II,
part 3195. These regulations require that helium refiners selling
to Federal agencies and their contractors must buy an equivalent
amount of crude helium from the BLM. Such sales are referred
to as “in-kind crude helium sales.” In 2000, in-kind crude
helium sales were 6.4 million cubic meters (231 million cubic
feet) and were made by nine companies through contracts with
the BLM.
Stocks
The volume of helium stored in the BLM helium conservation
storage system, including the conservation pipeline network and
the Cliffside Field, totaled 952 million cubic meters (34.3 billion
cubic feet) on December 31, 2000. The storage system
contained crude helium purchased under contract by the BLM
from 1962 to 1973 and privately owned helium extracted by
industry from natural-gas-supplying fuel markets and stored
under contract. This and privately owned helium is returned to
37.2
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK—2000
HELIUM—2000
37.3
the owners as needed for purification to supply private demand.
During 2000, 23.3 million cubic meters (840 million cubic feet
of private helium was delivered to the BLM’s helium
conservation system, and 51.9 million cubic meters (1,870
million cubic feet) was withdrawn for a net decrease of 28.6
million cubic meters (1,030 million cubic feet) of private helium
in storage (table 4).
Transportation
Private producers and distributors shipped helium
predominantly as a liquid in semitrailers. These semitrailers
delivered the liquid helium to distribution centers where some of
it was gasified and compressed into trailers and small cylinders
for delivery to end users. The remaining liquid helium was sold
as bulk liquid or repackaged in dewars of various sizes for
delivery.
Prices
The price charged for crude helium to private companies for
in-kind crude helium sales was $1.785 per cubic meter ($49.50
per thousand cubic feet) for fiscal year 2000.
Foreign Trade
In 2000, exports of grade-A helium increased to 37.0 million
cubic meters (1.33 billion cubic feet) (table 1). Helium exports
increased by 38.1% compared with those of 1999 and accounted
for 29.2% of the U.S.-produced helium sales; private industry
supplied all U.S. helium exports. The large increase in helium
exports is attributed to increased European demand for helium.
About 55% of the U.S. helium exports went to Asia, with Japan
receiving about 71% of those exports. About 24% of the
exported helium was shipped to Europe. Collectively, Belgium,
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom received 94% of the
helium exported to Europe. Other exports were as follows:
Canada and Mexico, 8%; South America, 5%; Australia-New
Zealand, 5%; the Middle East, 2%; Africa, Central America, and
the Caribbean, less than 1% each. Import tariffs on helium
established on January 1, 1998, remained at the 3.7% rate for
normal-trade-relations nations and at the 25% rate for non-
normal-trade-relations nations.
World Review
Excluding the United States, world production capacity of
helium was estimated to be 29 million cubic meters (1.05 billion
cubic feet). All known helium produced outside the United
States was extracted in Algeria, Poland, and Russia (table 5).
Outlook
The total market for U.S.-produced helium increased by 8.2%
compared with that of 1999. From 1995 to 2000, the market
growth rate was about 5.7%.
Expansion of the Asian helium market over the next 2 years is
expected to moderate owing to the uncertain economic
conditions in that region of the world. Competition from
foreign helium producers will provide continued uncertainty to
the strength of the U.S. exports to the global helium market.
Helium sales in the private sector are expected to continue at a
moderate growth rate of 5% during the next 3 years. Use of
high-temperature superconductor materials in electric motor
windings and increased fiber optics demands are expected to
increase helium demand.
Reference Cited
Curtis, J.B., 2000, National resource estimates for 2000—A report of the
Potential Gas Committee: Golden, CO, Colorado School of Mines, 346 p.
GENERAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION
U.S. Geological Survey Publications
Helium. Ch. in Mineral Commodity Summaries, annual.
Helium. Ch. in Minerals Yearbook, annual.
Helium. Ch. in United States Mineral Resources, Professional
Paper 820, 1973.
Other
Analyses of Natural Gases, 1917-85. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Information Circular 9129, 1987.
Analyses of Natural Gases, 1986-90. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Information Circular 9301, 1991.
Analyses of Natural Gases, 1991. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Information Circular 9318, 1992.
Analyses of Natural Gases, 1992. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Information Circular 9356, 1993.
Analyses of Natural Gases, 1993. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Information Circular 9400, 1994.
Analyses of Natural Gases, 1996-97. Bureau of Land
Management Technical Note 404, 1998.
Helium. Ch. in Mineral Facts and Problems, U.S. Bureau of
Mines Bulletin 675, 1985.
Helium Resources of the United States, 1991. U.S. Bureau of
Mines Information Circular 9342, 1993.
Helium Resources of the United States, 1997. Bureau of Land
Management Technical Note 403, 1998.
TABLE 1
TOTAL SALES OF GRADE-A HELIUM PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES 1/
(Million cubic meters)
Volume
Domestic
Total
Year
sales
Exports 2/
sales
1996
71.9
22.8
94.7
1997
77.4
29.5
107
1998
84.2
27.8
112
1999
89.8
26.8
117
2000
89.6
37.0
127
1/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown.
2/ Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
TABLE 2
OWNERSHIP AND LOCATION OF HELIUM EXTRACTION PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2000
Category and owner or operator
Location
Product purity
Government owned, Bureau of Land Management 1/
Masterson, TX
Grade-A helium 2/
Private industry:
Air Products and Chemicals Inc.
Hansford County, TX
Do. 2/
Do.
Liberal, KS
Do. 2/
BOC Gases, Inc.
Otis, KS
Do. 2/
BP p.l.c.
Sunray, TX
Crude helium
Do.
Ulysses, KS
Do.
CIG Co. (a subsidiary of El Paso Corp.)
Keyes, OK
Grade-A helium 2/
Do.
Lakin, KS
Crude helium
Duke Energy Field Services
Cheyenne Wells, CO
Crude and grade-A helium 2/
Do.
Hansford County, TX
Crude helium
Do.
Liberal, KS
Do.
Do.
Moore County, TX
Do.
Exxon Co., U.S.A.
Shute Creek, WY
Crude and grade-A helium 2/
Nitrotec Energy Corp. 3/
Cheyenne Wells, CO
Grade-A helium
Do.
Chillicothe, TX
Do.
ONEOK, Inc.
Bushton, KS
Crude helium
Do. 4/
Scott City, KS
Do.
Pioneer Natural Resources Co.
Fain, TX
Do.
Do.
Satanta, KS
Do.
Praxair, Inc.
Bushton, KS
Grade-A helium 2/
Do.
Ulysses, KS
Do. 2/
Tom Brown Inc.
Moab, UT
Crude and grade-A helium 2/
Williams Field Services Co.
Baker, OK
Crude helium
1/ Stopped production in March 1998.
2/ Including liquefaction.
3/ Stopped production in late 1999.
4/ Output is piped to Ulysses, KS, for purification.
TABLE 3
HELIUM RECOVERY IN THE UNITED STATES 1/ 2/
(Thousand cubic meters)
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Crude helium:
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) total storage
(7,230)
(6,130)
(100)
--
--
Private industry:
Stored by BLM
36,700
36,700
33,000
32,000
23,300
Withdrawn
(21,200)
(21,300)
(31,400)
(35,100)
(51,900)
Total private industry storage
15,500
15,400
1,600
(3,100)
(28,600)
Total crude helium
8,270
9,270
1,500
(3,100)
(28,600)
Grade-A helium:
BLM sold
6,060
5,260
2,000
--
--
Private industry sold
88,600
102,000
110,000
117,000
126,600
Total sold
94,700
107,000
112,000
117,000
126,600
Total stored
8,270
9,270
1,500
(3,100)
(28,600)
Grand total recovery
103,000
116,000
114,000
114,000
98,000
-- Zero.
1/ Negative numbers are enclosed in parentheses to denote net withdrawal from the BLM's underground storage facility, a partially depleted
natural gas reservoir in Cliffside Field near Amarillo, TX.
2/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown.
TABLE 4
SUMMARY OF BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT HELIUM CONSERVATION STORAGE SYSTEM
OPERATIONS 1/ 2/ 3/
(Thousand cubic meters)
1998
1999
2000
Helium in conservation storage system on January 1:
Stored under BLM conservation program 4/
852,000
847,000
841,000
Stored for private producers under contract
131,000
135,000
138,000
Total 4/
983,000
983,000
979,000
Input to system:
Net deliveries from BLM plants
(100)
--
--
Stored for private producers under contract
33,000
32,000
23,300
Total 4/
33,000
32,000
23,300
Redelivery of helium stored for private producers under contract
(31,500)
(35,100)
(51,900)
Net addition to system 4/
1,500
(3,100)
(28,600)
Helium in conservation storage system on December 31:
Stored under BLM conservation program 4/
847,000
841,000
836,000
Stored for private producers under contract
135,000
138,000
116,000
Total 4/
983,000
979,000
952,000
-- Zero.
1/ Crude helium is injected into or withdrawn from the BLM's underground storage facility, a partially depleted natural gas
reservoir in Cliffside Field near Amarillo, TX.
2/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown.
3/ Numbers in parentheses indicate net withdrawal from storage.
4/ Net additions to system do not include in-kind crude sales or transfers. However, totals do include crude sales and transfers.
TABLE 5
WORLD GRADE-A HELIUM PRODUCTION
ANNUAL CAPACITY, DECEMBER 31, 2000
(Million cubic meters)
Capacity
United States 1/
145
Rest of the world e/
29
Total e/
174
e/ Estimated.
1/ Includes plants on standby as well as operating plants.
WYOMING
UTAH
COLORADO
NEW
MEXICO
TEXAS
KANSAS
BURLINGTON
Cliffside
Field
Hugoton Field (Z)
Reichel
Field
Greenwood Field
Keyes
Field
Ute
Dome
Field
Riley Ridge Area Fields
Lisbon Field
Las Animas Fields
Shiprock
Field
Thalia
Field
OKLAHOMA
SCOTT CITY
SATANTA
AMARILLO
LIBERAL
(Z)
GRUVER
FAIN
Panhandle Field
BUSHTON
MOAB
CHILLICOTHE
Church Buttes Field
FIGURE 1
MAJOR U.S. HELIUM-BEARING NATURAL GAS FIELDS
Helium gasfields
BLM helium pipeline
The Panoma gasfield underlines the western
two-thirds of the Hugoton Field in Kansas
City location
EXPLANATION
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
0
50
100
150
M
IL
LI
O
N
C
U
B
IC
M
ET
ER
S
Recovered
FIGURE 2
HELIUM RECOVERY IN THE UNITED STATES
Sold
Stored
Removed from storage
Welding
16.3 (18.2%)
Cryogenics
21.9 (24.4%)
Pressure/purge
17.8 (19.9%)
Other
11.5 (12.8%)
Controlled
atmosphere
14.3 (16%)
Breathing mixtures 2.8 (3.1%)
Leak
detection
5.0 (5.6%)
FIGURE 3
ESTIMATED HELIUM CONSUMPTION, BY END USE,
IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2000
(Million cubic meters)
Estimated total helium used
(89.6 million cubic meters)
Dostları ilə paylaş: |