Air Liquide has been confirmed as the primary off-taker of helium produced a North American Helium’s third purification facility that is now onstream in in Saskatchewan, Canada.
In a statement released on Wednesday (17th August) North American Helium said the facility was started-up back in May (2022) near the Village of Mankota, south of the Canadian province that has ambitions to be a world leader in the helium market.
With this, came new that Air Liquide is quickly becoming a part of Saskatchewan’s blossoming helium story, through a long-term agreement with North American Helium that would provide the industrial gas giant with a reliable source of helium for its customers.
The deal marks the second North American Helium project in which Air Liquide is a major off-taker, the first being the Battle Creek plant, Canada’s largest helium purification facility.
Nicholas Snyder, Chairman and CEO of North American Helium, said, “We are pleased to once again be working with Air Liquide as the primary off-taker of the helium production from our new Mankota facility.”
“We value having a leader in the industrial gas business as a partner and appreciate the financial stability the long-term off-take agreement brings to support our strategic growth objectives.”
Marlon McDougall, President and Chief Operating Officer, added, “As North American Helium continues to execute on its operating and development plans, we are now realising our goal of creating a new global helium production hub in Saskatchewan.”
“We have been diligent in our approach to obtaining a deep understanding of the helium reservoir and trapping systems on our substantial land position and remain firmly on track to double helium production in 2022.”
McDougall continued, “North American Helium continues to increase its level of investment in Saskatchewan as we advance exploration and development projects slated for 2023.”
Speaking exclusively to Jim Reiter, Minister of Energy and Resources for the Saskatchewan Government, earlier this year, gasworld heard that Saskatchewan plans to have 150+ dedicated helium production wells, annual exports worth more than %500m and up to 15 purification and liquefaction facilities by 2030.
This all comes under the province’s Helium Action Plan, that sets itself the goal of being a world leader in the helium market, responsible for 10% of the world’s production by 2030.
Minister Reiter told gasworld, “This is the first Helium Action Plan that has been released in the country and it’s incredible to see how quickly the industry has taken off here, even though it’s very much still in its infancy.”
“We’re excited to see that some of the major players are making headway in the Saskatchewan helium market right now. There’s many coming into the market and we’ve got some pretty aggressive goals for just seven and a half years down the line (2030).”
