据管道新闻网2月3日消息称，美国科罗拉多州的风滚草中游公司宣布已与一家全球一级氦气供应商签订了一份为期10年的氦气销售协议。这份新合同为风滚草公司的Ladder Creek工厂的氦气生产能力提供了顶级的全球客户，并在2030年12月31日之前为客户提供稳定的氦气供应。
该协议的具体条款尚未披露，但风滚草公司估计，整个合同的价值可能超过5亿美元。最终合同的价值将取决于Ladder Creek工厂从现在到2030年年底的氦气产量。
风滚草中游公司创始人兼首席执行官Durell Johnson说：“我们非常高兴能够宣布与全球市场的世界顶级氦气供应商之一签订新的长期合同。由于2021年和2022年俄罗斯和卡塔尔将新增氦气供应，氦气市场出现了大量投机行为，这份新合同提供了我们所需的稳定性，以确保我们的生产商以固定价格出售氦气。”
该协议的一个独特之处在于，它允许风滚草公司将至多10%的氦产量出售给需要在公开市场上不定期购买氦的第三方买家。
Johnson说：“这意义重大，因为该合同涵盖了世界上任何地方所有可用的氦分子。我们已经预留了一部分年产量，专门用于帮助那些遇到供应问题、突然需要购买氦气的客户。因为目前还没有现成的氦气市场，所以我们希望氦气买家知道，他们只需给风滚草中游公司打个电话，就可以填补暂时的供应中断。”
在2019年12月收购了Ladder Creek氦厂和集气系统之后，风滚草公司修改了天然气生产商协议并增加了新的收集和加工客户。这些行动在2020年增加了该工厂的天然气投入，使氦产量增加了四倍。
Ladder Creek氦气厂和集气系统为在科罗拉多州东部和堪萨斯州西部运营的天然气生产商提供服务。
Johnson说：“持续的增长将来自我们的天然气生产商。我们最近与堪萨斯州的一家生产商合作，完成了一个15000英亩的新项目，预计到第一季度末，新的钻井活动将为工厂带来额外的产量。”
Ladder Creek低温处理厂目前的处理能力是3800万立方英尺/天，可扩大到5700万立方英尺/天。该公司计划在今年晚些时候开始扩建工厂。
朱佳妮 摘译自 PGJ
原文如下：
Tumbleweed Midstream Announces 10-Year Helium Sales Agreement
Colorado’s Tumbleweed Midstream announced it has executed a new 10-year helium sales agreement with a global tier one helium supplier. The new contract delivers a top-rated global customer for Tumbleweed’s Ladder Creek plant’s helium production capacity and provides the customer a steady supply of helium through December 31, 2030.
Specific terms of the agreement are undisclosed, however Tumbleweed estimates the value of the overall contract could exceed $500 million. Final contract value will depend on the volume of helium produced by the Ladder Creek plant and delivered between now and year-end 2030.
“We are extremely pleased to be able to announce a new long-term contract with one of the world’s top tier suppliers of helium to global markets,” said Tumbleweed Midstream Founder and CEO Durell Johnson. “With much speculation in the helium market related to new supplies coming on from Russia and Qatar in 2021 and 2022, this new contract provides the stability we need to ensure our producers that their helium will be sold at fixed prices.”
A unique aspect of the agreement gives Tumbleweed the option to sell up to 10% of its helium production to third-party buyers who need to make non-scheduled purchases of helium on the open market.
“This is significant because every molecule of available helium anywhere in the world is under contract,” said Johnson. “We have reserved a portion of our annual production specifically to help suppliers who encounter a supply hiccup and suddenly need to buy helium to satisfy customer contracts. Because there is no established marketplace where you can buy helium, we want helium buyers to know they can fill a temporary supply interruption with a single phone call to Tumbleweed Midstream.”
After it acquired the Ladder Creek Helium Plant and Gathering System in December 2019, Tumbleweed revamped its natural gas producer agreements and added new gathering and processing customers. These actions increased natural gas input to the plant in 2020, underpinning a fourfold increase in helium production.
The Ladder Creek Helium Plant and Gathering System serves natural gas producers operating in eastern Colorado and western Kansas.
“Continued growth will come from natural gas producers right here in our backyard,” Johnson said. “We recently executed a new 15,000-acre dedication with a producer in Kansas and expect to see new drilling activity that will bring additional production to the plant by the end of Q1.”
Current processing capacity at the Ladder Creek cryogenic processing plant is 38 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), expandable to 57 MMcf/d. The company plans to initiate a plant expansion later this year.
