Helium Plant Fills Niche, Balloons

Though late to the party, helium from a production plant near Big Piney will likely soon be filling floaty balloons and aiding high-tech research. Air Products and Matheson Tri-Gas Inc. announced Wednesday that it has begun to fill the first two 11,000 gallon helium containers from their jointly owned facility. According to a release, the plant can produce about 200 million standard cubic feet of helium per year, but expected expansions would double the capacity. The facility has long been underway, but apparently faced delays. In late 2012, a representative of Denbury Resources, which is providing the feed-gas stream to the plant from its Riley Ridge facility, said it expected helium production to begin in mid-2013. The new helium production will come as a squeaky breath of fresh air – or helium as the case may be – to an industry that has been passing through a dearth. “This plant is beginning production operations at a good time as both suppliers and manufacturing end-users of helium are still recovering from a global helium supply shortage,” said Walter Nelson, general manager of worldwide helium at Air Products. “Big Piney alone won’t solve the supply issue, but it will help to provide additional helium at this critical time.” Nelson went on to promise to diversify its helium source portfolio to improve reliability in the future. Denbury’s Riley Ridge plant is fed from the LaBarge Field, widely known as one of the largest helium supplies in the U.S. According to Air Products, the field can support helium production for decades. “Big Piney’s location in southwest Wyoming, close to our existing supply from ExxonMobil, provides logistics synergies and promotes a stable, efficient and reliable supply chain,” said John Bigham, vice president of global helium for Matheson. In 2012, analysts expected the plant to supply about 10 percent of the world’s helium when it is operational, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

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