HELIUJM
By William    D. Leachman -
Mr. Leachman, a chemical engineer with 40 years of U.S. Bureau of Mines experience,
has been the commodity specialist
for helium since 1983. He also prepared the domestic survey and international
data tables.


Grade-A helium (99.995% or better)
sales volume in the United States by
private industry and the U.S. Bureau of
Mines (USBM) was 67.6 million cubic
meters [2,437 million cubic feet (MMcf)]
in 1993.1 Grade-A helium exports by
private producers were 28.0 million cubic
meters (1,008 MMcf), for total sales of
95.6 million cubic meters (3,445 MMcf)
of U.S. helium. The USBM price for
Grade-A helium, f.o.b. plant, was $1.983
per cubic meter [$55 per thousand cubic
feet (Mcf)] and bulk liquid helium was
$2.379 per cubic meter ($66 per Mcf) on
January 1, 1993, with additional costs for
container services and rent. On October
1, 1993, the bulk liquid helium price was
raised to $2.524 per cubic meter ($70 per
Mcf). Private industry also increased its
helium prices last year, but they are
lower than the USBM's.


DOMESTIC DATA COVERAGE


Domestic production data for helium
are developed by the USBM from records
of its own operations as well as the High
Purity Helium Survey, a single, voluntary
canvass of private U.S. operations. Of
the seven operations to which a survey
request was sent, 100% responded, and
those data plus data from USBM
operations represent 100% of the total
helium sales and recovery shown in table
2.


BACKGROUND


The USBM role in helium matters
dates back to the First World War when
the Army and Navy became interested in
using helium as an inert lifting gas and
contacted the USBM for assistance


because of its natural gas expertise. In
1925, the Government's Helium Program
was officially placed under USBM control
by Congress (Helium Act of 1925). In
1929, the USBM Amarillo, TX, large-
scale helium extraction and purification
facility was built and began operation.
During World War II, demand increased
significantly, and four more small
Government helium plants were built.
New technology increased helium
demand in the 1950's and led to the
construction of the Keyes, OK, plant in
1959.  Dwindling Hugoton-Panhandle
Field natural gas supplies aroused
concerns that no economic source of
helium would exist by the turn of the
century.
In 1960, Congress replaced the 1925
act with new legislation (Helium Act
Amendments of 1960). The purposes of
the act were to provide for conservation
of helium for essential Government
activities and to supply the current and
foreseeable future helium needs of
Federal agencies. The act directed the
Secretary of the Interior to purchase and
store helium for future Government use
and to operate and maintain helium
production and purification plants and
related helium storage, transmission, and
shipping facilities.
Purchases for helium conservation
were made under 22-year contracts with
private natural gas companies, which
added crude helium extraction capabilities
to their existing gas processing facilities.
Four companies built five crude helium
plants. The USBM constructed a high-
pressure pipeline to transport the helium
from Bushton, KS, and intermediate
points to the USBM-owned Cliffside
Field near Amarillo, TX, for storage.


Helium needs of Federal agencies,
particularly the U.S. Department of
Defense (DOD), the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA), and
the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE),
have been met, and there is enough
helium in storage to meet their
foreseeable needs. The present Federal
helium demand is supplied solely by the
USBM's Exell Helium Plant, 56
kilometers (35 miles) north of Amarillo.
In the mid-1970's, the USBM began
accepting privately owned crude helium
for storage in Cliffside under long-term
contracts. Private industry currently has
a 9-month supply of helium in
Government storage, assuming all private
market requirements would be supplied
from storage.
Geology-Resources
Domestic measured and indicated
helium resources as of January 1, 1993,
the latest figures available, are estimated
to be 13 billion cubic meters [467 billion
cubic feet (Bcf)]. The resources include
measured reserves and indicated
resources estimated at 6.9 billion cubic
meters (248 Bcf) and 0.9 billion cubic
meters (33 Bcf), respectively, in natural
gas with a minimum helium content of
0.3 %. A slight increase in the measured
reserves of helium is reported due to
ongoing evaluations of the Nation's
depleting  helium  resources.   The
measured reserves included 1 billion
cubic meters (35 Bcf) stored by the
USBM in the helium conservation storage
system. Measured helium resources in
natural gas with a helium content of less
0.3 % are estimated to be 1.2 billion
cubic meters (44 Bcf). Indicated helium


HEI-UM-1993




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