Paradox Resources announced the first sales of helium from its Lisbon Valley Gas Plant in San Juan County, Utah. Following the full fractionation and cryo startup in July 2019, the company is now selling purified helium to meet global demand.
The helium product serves various sectors including the medical and research industries, space and defense, welding, and the party and balloon industries.
The Lisbon Valley Gas Plant began processing third-party producer gas streams in July 2019. Following the shutdown of a similar plant near Farmington, New Mexico, the Utah facility provides a sales outlet for stranded producers, including those on Navajo and Ute Lands.
According to the company, the Lisbon Valley Gas Plant has maintained a historical uptime of 99 percent over the last 20 years, which is higher than the approximately 80 percent uptime of the closed Farmington plant. This reliability offers a more consistent outlet for producers in the region.
The facility is capable of handling various gas compositions, including high levels of nitrogen, H2S, and CO2. In the summer of 2019, the plant's flexibility led to an R&D joint venture with Saudi Aramco aimed at global emissions reduction.
The Lisbon Valley Gas Plant is a 60 mmcfd rated treating plant featuring a 45 mmcfd cryogenic plant and a 7,500 BPD fractionation train. It has the capacity to strip and polish up to 500 mcf/d of helium to 99.999 percent purity.
Paradox Resources estimates that approximately 20 million cubic feet per day was stranded by the Farmington plant shutdown. The company provides processing and spec gas sales solutions for producers along the Aneth and Red Pepper pipelines, noting that the multi-state Red Pepper Pipeline was reversed in December 2019 to move gas westward to the Aneth Field.
