In a bid to stabilise the world’s helium supply after the Qatar blockade shook the market earlier this month, Air Products wants to make a legal amendment to a central US law to encourage domestic production.
In Air Products’ discussion draft, the company suggests adding The Helium Extraction Act of 2017 to the country’s century-old Mineral Leasing Act.
Currently, companies can lose leases after a decade if they’re not using them to produce either oil or gas but if passed, this Bill would ensure that the extraction of helium from gas produced under a Federal mineral lease would maintain said lease as if the helium were oil or gas.
Walter Nelson, Air Products Vice-President and General Manager for Helium, offered testimony on this and several other important issues regarding helium before the US House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources yesterday in Washington, D.C.
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