Possible end in sight for world wide helium shortage?

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I thought many would find this article interesting, as it affects so many people in the welding business.  This article is a few months old, but it looks like some good news for users of helium gas (weldors in particular). The only bad news I got out of the article is that it will probably be another two years at least before we see more helium arrive at our LWS retailers and at a lower cost than the current. Helium Shortage: More than just hot air.Feb. 27th, 2014By Tim MaverickHelium is a source of energy that’s often overlooked – but its shortage could be devastating.Helium has become an essential element in many sectors of our technology economy. It’s used in medical equipment like MRIs and lasers, and the inert gas is used in electronics manufacturing, and also has aeronautics applications. Unknown to most energy investors, there’s actually a helium shortage that’s been developing over the past several years. Thanks to booming demand, especially in Asia, there are fears that the world may run out of the gas within 25 years.With an economy that relies (increasingly) on the fuels of technology to burgeon our future, this shortage is a big deal.  United States Scrambles to Avoid Tragedy.  The key supplier of underground helium in the world is the United States. The United Sates supplies about 70% of the total helium that’s consumed worldwide.  And 30% of those American supplies come from the government-owned Federal Helium Reserve. But the reserves there are falling at an accelerating rate. Not to mention an already-falling helium recovery with natural gas reserves. Couple those… and voila – there’s a shortage.That indicates rising prices for helium, which happens to be good news – at least for the industrial gases companies involved in helium production like Praxair (PX), Airgas (ARG) and L’Air Liquide SA ADR (AIQUY).The main beneficiary of these price hikes, however, will be the world’s largest producer and supplier of liquid and gaseous helium – American-owned Air Products & Chemicals (APD).How to Play the LossSure, reserves are down – but there is, of course, a way to play the loss.  And it’s with APD, which is about to explode even bigger in the sector.  Thanks to its new helium project in Doe Canyon, Colorado, APD will uncover the first new source of helium announced in the past three years.The company will separate helium from naturally occurring, underground carbon dioxide currently being extracted by energy company Kinder Morgan (KMI). The carbon dioxide will then be piped to the Permian Basin in West Texas for use in enhanced oil recovery.The Colorado plant will produce up to 230 million cubic feet (mcf) of helium when it begins production in the spring of 2015. This is equivalent to 15% of the current annual output from the Federal Helium Reserve.Once online, this facility will be the only one in the world that’s extracting helium from a carbon dioxide gas stream, thanks to the company’s proprietary technology.  In addition, APD is involved in another project at the Riley Ridge gas field in Wyoming with Denbury Resources (DNR). Riley Ridge is one of the largest helium-rich natural gas fields in the United States and is believed to contain enough helium reserves to support production for decades.These new projects will allow Air Products & Chemicals to provide its investors with profits that are far more than hot air. In fact, as the leader in the worldwide helium industry, APD may single handedly deflect a devastating helium shortage.And “the chase” continues,-Tim MaverickTim Maverick boasts decades of experience in the investment world. He spent 20 years at a major brokerage firm - as a trading supervisor and broker working directly with clients. Learn More >>http://www.oilandenergydaily.com/2014/02/27/helium/Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:That is good news.Wait! That is GREAT news!Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:This is great news.Only problem I can forsee is the useful idiots in washing will try to block it so they can save the rocky mountian spotted tick lice or something ridiculously stupid.It involves drilling aka raping the earth, production of CO2, aiding oil extraction, would allow the USA to export more helium (god forbid we become a world leader in exporting something) and may involve a pipeline at some point for cheap efficient transportation of some substance. So a certian political group will fight this to the death.old Miller spectrum 625 Lincoln SP-135 T, CO2+0.025 wireMiller model 250 and WP-18V torchCraftsman 100amp AC/DC and WP-17V torchCentury 115-004 HF arc stabilizerHome made 4 transformer spot welderHome made alternator welder
Reply:so helium is extracted from the ground?does what go up always come down?I see no reason why helium would come down?Maybe a big hose stuck a few miles up to suck it back down? LOL.interesting!
Reply:I don't buy it brother. I think everybody is full of bologna. The helium shortage came out of left field and the door got slammed. The only reasonable answer I found on the internet was that the helium pockets are right next....above, or below, I really don't remember to natural gas which is a major priority right now, so they got pushed aside till the gas problem is solved. My gas bill has quadrupiled in the last few months and they claim the reason was a brutal winter and a shortage, and supply and demand. Between what I researched and getting kicked in the nuts with the natural gas prices it finally made sense to me with the helium shortage. They just pushed em out of the way for a while. But honestly.....who do you believe these days, everybody is full of crapola!I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Originally Posted by weldermikeI don't buy it brother. I think everybody is full of bologna. The helium shortage came out of left field and the door got slammed. The only reasonable answer I found on the internet was that the helium pockets are right next....above, or below, I really don't remember to natural gas which is a major priority right now, so they got pushed aside till the gas problem is solved. My gas bill has quadrupiled in the last few months and they claim the reason was a brutal winter and a shortage, and supply and demand. Between what I researched and getting kicked in the nuts with the natural gas prices it finally made sense to me with the helium shortage. They just pushed em out of the way for a while. But honestly.....who do you believe these days, everybody is full of crapola!
Reply:I happened to visit the Helium capital of the US, Amarillo Texas, including visiting the Helium monument.What I learned was the Helium is extracted from Natural Gas.   It takes a pretty sophisticated facility to separate Helium, including cryogenics.I found the following from a book about the Helium Reserve by the National Academy Press.  Helium is often separated from natural gases in the course of removing nitrogen to improve heating value. In the United States the lowest practical helium concentration that can economically justify extraction is typically around 0.3 percent by volume. Sometimes, however, the helium is not extracted from high-concentration natural gases and is simply vented to the atmosphere when the natural gas is burned as fuel.Determining the feasibility of extracting helium from a particular source of natural gas is extremely complicated and is influenced by a combination of technological, logistical, and economic factors. For example, too small a reserve base may disfavor the installation of expensive helium extraction and/or purification facilities. Economic and technical considerations surrounding other products in the natural gas stream and contractual obligations can also affect the economics of helium extraction. All of these factors must be taken into account before a helium extraction site can be planned and established.Extraction of crude helium from natural gas typically requires three processing steps. The first step is the removal of impurities. Amine and glycol absorption, dry desiccant adsorption, and/or other extraction processes typically remove water, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide from the gas. The second step is the extraction of the high-molecular-weight hydrocarbons. The third step is cryogenic processing, which removes most of the remaining methane gas. The product is a crude helium typically containing 50 to 70 percent helium, with the remainder being primarily nitrogen along with smaller amounts of argon, neon, and hydrogen.RichardSculptures in copper and other metalshttp://www.fergusonsculpture.comSyncrowave 200 Millermatic 211Readywelder spoolgunHypertherm 600 plasma cutterThermal Arc GMS300 Victor OA torchHomemade Blacksmith propane forge
Reply:I guess I was always wrong but I always thought AIRCO had a huge centrifuge somewhere in central California (San Jose) that they filled gas tanks with. The tanks around here are from AIRCO_Cali.From what the internet said, it sounds like He comes from Fracking natural gas in TEXAS?  Doesnt make sense to me but doesnt have to.
Reply:The problem is hydraulically fractured gas contains almost no helium.The best helium reservers are very old deposits of gas near granite. The helium is actually a byproduct of radioactive decay.But who knows there is always an exception to the rule, there could be a fracture reserve that is producing helium.old Miller spectrum 625 Lincoln SP-135 T, CO2+0.025 wireMiller model 250 and WP-18V torchCraftsman 100amp AC/DC and WP-17V torchCentury 115-004 HF arc stabilizerHome made 4 transformer spot welderHome made alternator welder
Reply:"Discovery is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought" - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Reply:I've worked on those projects going on in Doe Canyon. It is true about the new helium project going on there. I first heard about their discovery a year or so ago. The only reason I know is the contractor I was subbing for didn't get the job. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply:My understanding is that the excess natural gas coming from fracked oil wells has pushed the gas price so low that a lot of the gas wells producing high helium content gas were shut down because they are not profitable enough to run. The fracking wells remain open because of the oil obviously, but the gas they produce contains little helium because they are in shale deposits.
Reply:The main problem is for 'tards to fill balloons so they can jump up and down and imitate someone having a seizure. Guess how many balloons float away every year ?Bubble gumTooth pixDuct tapeBlack glueGBMF hammerScrew gun --bad battery (see above)