Recap

Helix are drilling in the Montana Fairway with the aim of making a Helium discovery at Ingomar Dome and proving the commerciality of their Rudyard discovery.

Following completion of the well at Ingomar, the company will progress onto well appraisal activities at Ingomar alongside appraising Rudyard.

The ultimate aim is to prove two commercial discoveries at both Ingomar and Rudyard. For more information on each project, refer back to my original research note here

Well Completion

The company recently announced that they had completed the drilling programme at the Clink #1 Well at Ingomar Dome. The drilling programme was a success identifying Helium shows in all target horizons.

Post completion of the well the company intended to perform wireline logging and flow-testing, however due to caving in the Mowry shale compromising the stability of the wellbore, the company will now need to set intermediate casing through the shale section.

The company are in the process of mobilising a new drill rig to do this so they can then complete the appraisal of the well – this is a minor set-back and I believe the company anticipate well re-entry around the end of September / early October.

One thing I’ve learnt from investing, whether it be in Oil & Gas or Mining is nothing really ever goes to plan due to the nature of the business, however this seems a minor blip for Helix and given the Helium/Hydrogen shows encountered with some significant anomalies in some horizons, in little over a month we could be onto a confirmed discovery !

But lets talk about the Hydrogen…

Hydrogen Discovery & Its Importance

Hydrogen has a multitude of uses and its importance is ever increasing as the world looks to reduce carbon emissions. It’s probably most well known for its use in Energy Production and Storage particularly Energy Fuel Cells but plays an important role in other sectors such as Medical and Scientific applications. Hydrogen can even be used to create E-Fuels used by combustible engines and aviation!

There is a difference in how you can source Hydrogen though, it’s typically Green Hydrogen or Geological Hydrogen.

Green hydrogen is produced by using renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, or hydroelectric power. The hydrogen is generated through electrolysis of water. In this process, an electric current (powered by renewable energy) splits water molecules (H2O) into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2).

Green Hydrogen is considered carbon-free since its production doesn’t emit green-house gases however it requires energy to create it!

Geological hydrogen, also known as natural hydrogen or white hydrogen, is found naturally occurring in the Earth’s crust. It is extracted from underground reservoirs, similar to how fossil fuels like natural gas are sourced. This hydrogen doesn’t need to be produced through an industrial process and as such can be seen as a zero-carbon resource.

This is why Geological Hydrogen is attracting a lot of attention!

Helix have found Geological Hydrogen concentrations of up to 10.3% in the mud in the deeper Cambrian sandstones drilled at the Clink #1 Well. This is an extremely high concentration and it is very likely that the concentrations are much higher as they were increasing at depth, in fact CEO Bo Sears said these are largest Hydrogen concentrations he’s seen.

This is very exciting as aside of the Helium found, this could add a new asset class to the portfolio which in its own right could be a game-changer.

Tax Benefits

Given the importance of Geological Hydrogen, it’s highly likely there would be significant Tax Benefits associated with a discovery and grant-funding available for the development of a plant.

We need to ‘watch this space’ on this front as like I said this could be a game-changer for the company and investors.

High Impact Q4

Assuming Clink #1 well re-entry goes according to plan, the company will be running wireline logs and flow tests which will identify the helium grades. The company have cited that anything around 0.4% or greater should be commercial.

It’ll also be interesting to see further news on the Hydrogen.

And of course the company will be running flow tests at the Rudyard Helium discovery shortly.

It’s going to be a busy few months !