Russian helium production expected to grow to 80 mcm/year by 2030 - scientists
NOVOSIBIRSK. Jan 31 (Interfax) - Scientists at the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics (IPGG) of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have raised their forecast for Russian helium production on the horizon to 2030 to 80 million cubic meters per year.
"In the estimate of IPGG SB RAS experts, helium from fields in Eastern Siberia and the Far East will cover up to 35% of global demand. Helium production in Russia could reach 80 million cubic meters per year by the end of the 2020s and stay at this level until the middle of the 21st century," the institute said in a press release.
The institute also has two other scenarios that presume the expansion of helium production and storage in the Far East. The "expanded" and "optimized" scenarios see helium production in Russia reaching 100 mcm and about 120 mcm, respectively, by 2030.
In March 2024, IPGG experts forecast that Russia would increase helium production to 75 mcm by 2030 and that this would cover 45% of global demand. The main market is expected to be the Asia-Pacific region.
Russia's potential for helium production is concentrated in Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk Region and the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), the institute said. About 97% of Russia's helium reserves are located in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, where 35 helium-bearing gas fields have been discovered.
The development of high-tech sectors in Russia, such as industrial cryogenics, space research and medicine, will spur the growth of domestic demand for helium, the institute expects.
However, Russia needs to develop domestic technologies and equipment for separating, treating and liquefying helium, as well as create systems for its long-term storage. Nonetheless, Russian equipment manufacturers' level of technological readiness on the whole makes it possible to supply projects with critical and key equipment, the institute said.
Prior to 2021, Russia only had Gazprom's Orenburg Helium Plant, but subsequently the Amur Gas Processing Plant in the east and a helium plant at the Yaraktinskoye field in Irkutsk Region were launched. There are also plans to launch a helium plant at the Markovskoye field in Irkutsk Region, a helium production facility at the Minnibayevsk Gas Processing Plant in Tatarstan and a helium recovery facility at the Srednebotuobinskoye field in Sakha (Yakutia).
