The government’s recent helium auction held in Amarillo, Texas resulted in a 135% increase in prices bid during the auction.
The average price at the auction held by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management was $279.95 per million standard cubic feet, up from last year’s average of $160.64.
The BLM operates and maintains a helium storage reservoir, enrichment plant and pipeline system near Amarillo. It’s close to the gas fields in Oklahoma, southwest Kansas and the Texas Panhandle. The area contains high amounts of helium which is separated from natural gas as a byproduct, collected, piped and injected underground.
The BLM started selling its helium several years ago and is under directions to unload all of its helium assets by 2021.
Helium is used in the testing of rocket engines, welding, commercial diving, and production of semiconductor chips. The element’s ability to reach very low temperatures attracts many commercial and institutional users who conduct magnetic resonance imaging and other scientific applications. Other industries depend on helium’s lifting powers for operating weather and party balloons.
The BLM says that its crude helium plant meets 42 per cent of US demand and 15 per cent of global demand.