BABBITT- Pulsar Helium reported the preliminary results of their May flow tests from their helium gas well this week, documenting remarkable concentrations of the gas. On June 6, Pulsar reported that their testing showed that helium and other gases “flowed to surface naturally in a free gas phase.” The maximum measured flow rate was 821 thousand cubic feet per day. Helium concentrations were between 8.7 and 14.5 percent, while carbon dioxide concentrations exceeded 70 percent. In the two weeks prior to the flow tests, Pulsar also collected a vertical seismic profile and an optical televiewer survey of the borehole.
“The results of the Jetstream No.1 flow test and laboratory analysis confirm a major new helium discovery,” said Pulsar CEO Thomas Abraham-James. “This is the first dedicated helium well drilled in Minnesota, and all data gathered indicates that this is not an isolated occurrence with the helium-bearing zone likely to extend laterally and at depth.”
For comparison with helium wells elsewhere, a recent helium production well owned by American Noble Gas in the Hugoton gas field of Kansas, entered production in 2022. American Noble Gas reported a flow rate of 100 thousand cubic feet per day and a helium concentration in natural gas of 0.5 percent. The Pulsar helium is more concentrated and not associated with fossil fuel production.
Pulsar issued an update on their flow tests, adding that the pressure at the bottom of the hole was 162 psi (1,117 kPascals). After the gas was allowed to flow freely, the pressure in the well rebounded 70 percent after a “post-flow shut-in” of an hour. The quick rebound in pressure was interpreted by Pulsar “as highly positive, suggestion that there is a significant volume of gas present.”
Pulsar’s well, known as Jetstream No. 1, is located approximately 15 miles southwest of Babbitt off the Dunka River Road.