In the face of a trade war, Saskatchewan's helium industry looks to lift off

In a farmer’s field near Swift Current, Sask., Clayten Wenass is checking the flow of a helium well.

The system of shiny metal pipes runs nearly two kilometres under the Prairie soil and sends the gas to a nearby plant. It’s one of many popping up more frequently in a landscape already dotted with oil pumpjacks.

“There’s still this buzz around helium,” said Wenass, who works as a field engineer for Calgary-based North American Helium. “We’re just scratching the surface on our exploration and production at this point.”

The company has invested half a billion dollars into wells and processing plants in Saskatchewan’s southwest since 2013. It’s the largest firm in an emerging field of about a dozen Canadian helium businesses.

The demand for the gas goes well beyond balloons at party stores. It’s used in MRI machines at hospitals, the manufacturing of semiconductors and fibreoptic cables, and the aerospace industry.

At North American Helium’s Antelope Lake facility, helium from the wells is piped into a larger processing plant surrounded by fields. It’s an intensely loud and largely automated operation, with a system of valves and vessels that removes nitrogen, water and other substances.

 “At some of our sites, less than one per cent of the gas coming out of the ground is helium,” Wenass said, while walking by a maze of pipes and machinery. “There’s a lot of learning that’s been done and there’s a lot of learning to be had yet going forward.”

The field team runs the operation out of a gas lab and control centre, which allows them to take samples of helium at different stages of the purification process. With the help of a computer, they analyze the molecules inside a test tube within minutes, and quickly respond to any changes in temperature or pressure.

In the final step of the purification process, pure helium is piped into special transport trucks to be sent south of the border to Colorado and Oklahoma to be liquified.

Canada does not have a facility capable of liquifying helium, forcing producers to rely on the United States.

In the face of a trade war, there’s now a growing push to decouple the supply chain.

Chris Bakker, co-chair of the Helium Developers Association of Canada, said the industry views a Canadian liquifier as a second step.

“To justify a helium liquefaction facility here, we feel that we need more exploration to build more reserves,” he said.

“For the Canadian domestic use in hospitals here, we have to ship it across the border, become liquefied and bring it back to Canada. A Canadian liquefaction plant would eliminate that problem.”

The industry is calling on the federal government to add helium to its list of 15 critical minerals eligible for a federal exploration tax credit, which could make it easier to attract investment.

A Department of Finance official told CBC News it is always examining ways to improve the tax system, but did not say if helium is being considered for inclusion on the list.

Since 2006, helium has gone through a series of global shortages, leaving labs and hospitals scrambling to get enough and paying top dollar for it.

Phil Korbluth, a helium industry consultant based in Bridgewater, N.J., said supply has been abundant since the end of 2023.

“It’s a more challenging environment because after a period where margins were expanding, margins are now shrinking,” he said.

Kornbluth said a single Canadian liquifier would be worth the investment and allow for exporting out of Canadian ports directly to foreign markets – instead of solely across the U.S. border.

“I think it sends a signal that Canada is in the helium business for the long haul, that they are more than a feed gas supplier to U.S. sources,” he said.

Bakker, who is also CEO of Calgary-based Avanti Helium Corp., said that despite the more abundant supply, the Canadian helium industry’s competitive advantage could come down to global politics. The largest producers currently include Qatar, Russia, Algeria and the U.S., and Asian buyers have expressed interest in sourcing helium from Canada.

“These are nations that look at things in 100-year horizons and they understand the importance of having a safe, secure supply, which Canada can provide.”