Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by roy jones on October 4, 2009 at 10:20am

Helium? It costs about $13/mmcf to extract helium and get it into sales, as opposed to about $1/mmcf for natural gas. And there is almost none of it in the Marcellus (<2%). So nahh... not relavent to the Marcellus shale or any of the big shale plays. But here's a link to the composition of some gas shales if you want to take a look anyway just for fun. Hope this helps. If we're targetting anything in the shale other than natural gas (which we wont anytime soon) it will be uranium. I'm just wondering... where did you hear about this? I have yet to read an article from a paper, either pro-drilling of anti-drilling, which has been 100% accurate. It's pretty awful how little these people do research before publishing it as "fact".

http://www.exponent.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Newsletters/EF%20No...

Permalink Reply by Mary McKinnis on October 4, 2009 at 1:43pm

Thanks for the link, Roy. I work with a mechanical engineering student from a prestigious school who told me there was going to be a Helium shortage in the next 20 or 30 years. He told me that Helium is often found with Natural Gas. I decided to look into it. Although it may not be as profitable, it could be profitable as well as - well smart. I read online about the conditions that create Helium and thought that Marcellus Shale may have some, so I did some digging for a couple horus and posted the question above. I was unable to get any real good information online in one sitting - I just wasn't sure where to look. I can't remember all the sites I went to. It sounds like you know something about it. Do the Natural gas companies extract the Helium if they are interested, or is there usually another party involved?

Permalink Reply by bill h on February 6, 2010 at 7:10am

actually anything more than a fraction of a percent would be very high

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugoton_Natural_Gas_Area

Permalink Reply by Mary McKinnis on February 6, 2010 at 2:32pm

Very good point. Does anyone know of a company that extracts Helium? Maybe I could contact them and see if there is any interest.

Permalink Reply by bill h on March 1, 2010 at 3:22am

Roy,I'm just curious what your affiation is with the nat gas biz. The subject of Helium came up last spring when Cabot rep's were overheard discussing Helium content in Dimmock gas. I was curious
at the time due to the relatively high value of He as compared to CH4; however,after research it became clear that even if it is econom. to extract, it wouldn't effect the $ to the landowner by much. What is the % of Helium you're measuring in NEPA

Permalink Reply by bill h on March 1, 2010 at 6:07am

make that affiliation - oops