Assessment of the Storage of Crude Helium in Reserves in Europe or Elswehere

摘要

Since the USA terminated its Helium Conservation Program, and started selling off its Federal Reservernhelium, little action has been taken to counter the consequences to the international cryogenic industry. ThernFederal Reserve used to provide a “flywheel effect” which stabilised the global helium market; this stabilityrnis now lost and periodic shortages have emerged.rnTwo issues now dominate the helium market: (1) refining capacity in the short term and (2) long termrnresource availability. Market modelling (Nuttall et al. (eds.), “The Future of Helium as a Natural Resource”,rn2012a) indicates how recurring under-supply is a serious threat to long term market sustainability. It willrnincreasingly undermine the continuation of helium’s use, the development of new applications and thernsustenance of existing ones.rnThe obvious need to re-establish the “flywheel effect” requires the replacement of the old and depleted USrnreserves with additional refining capacity and a number of large scale helium storage reservoirs inside andrnoutside the USArnThis paper will assess: (1) the sourcing of crude helium, surplus to demand, for filling long-life storagernreservoirs, (2) the availability of suitable geological structures in Europe and elsewhere for the long termrnstorage of crude helium, and (3) possible ownership and financing options.