Pulsar continues to probe Minnesota’s helium potential amid rising demands

Over the past 25 years, US helium production has halved, dropping from an estimated 118 million cubic meters in 1999 to 59 million in 2023, even as demand surged to its highest level in over a decade.

What industries are relying on the supply? Well, there are a few, but the aerospace, electronics, and medical sectors are the biggest consumers. These consumers are having to secure their supply and ensure the continuation of critical operations.

Until recently, the US was the largest supplier of helium, with the world’s largest stand-alone repository, the Federal Helium Reserve. Earlier this year, the Federal Helium Reserve was privatised but is a former shadow of itself, once holding over 44 billion cubic feet (bcf) of helium but since plummeting to approximately four bcf today.

Read more: Bureau of Land Management accepts Messer’s bid for helium system takeover

Looking beyond the US, Russian natural gas company Gazprom is working towards achieving full operational capacity in 2025. Meanwhile, Qatar is now the world’s largest helium-producing nation. However, both sources contain inherent risks for helium consumers in the US, including distance to travel and geopolitical risks, including the Qatar diplomatic crisis of 2017-2021, and sanctions on Russia.

Read more: EU sanctions likely to ban imports of Russian helium

New sources

Trying to answer some questions surrounding supply is Minnesota-based Pulsar. In February, Pulsar Helium reported helium concentrations of up to 13.8% from its Jetstream #1 appraisal well drilled at its Topaz project in Minnesota. The discovery positioned Topaz as the highest concentration helium discovery in North America, and expectations are high for its upcoming work programmes.

At the time of the discovery, Cliff Cain, CEO of the international gas advisory firm Edelgas, confirmed that concentrations were the highest he’d ever seen in the North American helium market and described the results as an important milestone.

Read more: Pulsar Helium discovers up to 13.8% helium concentrations in Minnesota

Jetstream #1 is located 50ft from LOD-6, a hole drilled in 2011 by a mineral exploration team looking for nickel. Hole LOD-6 unexpectedly encountered a gas accumulation at 1,760 feet below ground level. After the well blew the core barrel and drilling fluid out of the hole, the gas was sampled, primarily to see if it was explosive, and it was found to contain approximately 10.5% helium by concentration.

The gas flowed freely for four days, with no apparent decrease in pressure until it was capped. A recent interview conducted with David Oliver, who helped cap LOD-6 described the venting gas as “screaming like a jet engine.”

Surprisingly, Pulsar is the first company to have noted Minnesota’s high helium potential and is a first mover in the state. And, in addition to having drilled Jetstream #1, Pulsar has also acquired important geophysical data in the Topaz project and is in the process of acquiring further seismic, gravity, and magnetic geophysical data. This will suggest additional areas of potential interest for Pulsar to home in on.

Further well operations will occur at Jetstream #1 in May 2024 with the acquisition of additional down-hole logging data and pressure build-up and flow testing operations. Upon completion of the May work programme at Jetstream #1, the data gathered by Pulsar will be shared with an independent consulting and advisory firm to conduct a resource calculation update for the Topaz project.

Outlook

What impact could Pulsar and other companies that are also planning to commence operations in the near term have on the market? Well, research conducted by Edelgas Group suggests that the global helium requirement is estimated to increase from 6.1 bcf in 2023 to 8.1 bcf in 2030, with many sectors requiring vast amounts.

And when it comes to price, a recently published MIT Tech Review said that the era of cheap helium is over, with its price nearly doubling since 2020 from $7.57 per cubic meter to highs of $14 per cubic meter in 2023.