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The Crude Helium Enrichment Unit in the Cliffside Gas Field. Remnants of the Amarillo Helium Plant in 2015. The National Helium Reserve, also known as the Federal Helium Reserve, is a strategic reserve of the United States, which once held over 1 billion cubic meters (about 170,000,000 kg) [a] of helium gas.
Helium usually makes up a minuscule portion of natural gas, but can make up as much as 10 percent of natural gas in some fields. A helium content of 0.3 percent or more is considered necessary for commercial helium extraction. [1] In 2012, helium was recovered at 16 extraction plants, from gas wells in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...
In reaction to depleting helium sources, the Helium Act of March 3, 1927 was established to prohibit the sale of helium to foreign countries and for non-governmental domestic use. [8] By 1937, a number of factors collided to move the United States government to revise its helium policy and create the Helium Act of September 1, 1937.
The helium market after World War II was depressed but the reserve was expanded in the 1950s to ensure a supply of liquid helium as a coolant to create oxygen/hydrogen rocket fuel (among other uses) during the Space Race and Cold War. Helium use in the United States in 1965 was more than eight times the peak wartime consumption.
Helium is separated out as a byproduct from natural gas, from the Hugoton field, the Panhandle field in Texas, the Greenwood field in Kansas, and the Keyes field in Oklahoma. [6] Much of the recovered helium is piped to the National Helium Reserve in Amarillo, Texas, where it is stored underground in geologic formations for future use.
The basin holds one of the most prolific natural gas reserves in North America, with ultimate gas production in excess of 100 trillion cubic feet (2,800 km 3) of gas. [3] In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the Anadarko Basin held 27.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 410 million barrels of natural gas liquids (NGL). [ 4 ]
The oil and gas reservoir was the primary helium source for the United States during the 1910s and at the commencement of World War I. By 1921, the North Texas natural gas field was estimated as near gas depletion exceeding the Petrolia helium reserves-to-production ratio yields. [3]
The Federal Helium Reserve was supposed to be sold off in 2021. Scientists hope it will remain in government hands. The fate of America's largest supply of helium is up in the air