Recent Developments in Helium Exploitation in southern Saskatchewan and adjacent areas of Montana and Alberta

Abstract

The following is a survey of a re-emerging helium exploration and production area located at the northwest rim of the Williston Basin located in southwest Saskatchewan, southeastern Alberta, and north central Montana. The Williston Basin is one of the two major sub-basins of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin; the other being the Alberta Basin foreland basin, east of the Cordillera. From a slow 2016 start, 21st century helium production from the area already exceeds the total from area’s 1960s and 70s production heyday. As mid-continent legacy helium storage and production decline, the importance of this area’s net-zero helium production can only grow.