Wyoming Will Become a Premier Global Supplier of Helium Via Blue Spruce Operating’s Dry Piney Helium Plant in Sublette County

     With helium supply currently constrained by the Strait of Hormuz disruption and damage at Qatari LNG gas processing facilities, which are a major source of helium, there is a clear need for alternative supply both in the near term and for the long term.

     Blue Spruce Operating is developing the Dry Piney Helium Plant in Sublette County. Construction was set to begin in May 2026. The $1.3 billion project is expected to bring Wyoming’s contribution to 30% of global helium production. Construction is expected to be modular, with large modular components delivered to the site. According to Blue Spruce cofounder Andrew Moses:

“We’ve designed the gas processing facility so we can basically haul in big modules and hook them up in the field,” Moses said. “Rather than doing all of the construction and fabrication on site.”

     To minimize wildlife impacts, the project is sticking to a limited 5.5-month construction window per year from May 1 through November 15.

     When the plant is operational, it will advance Wyoming’s global contribution to helium production from 20% currently to 30%. Thus, this project alone represents 10% of global helium production. The project is very close to ExxonMobil’s LaBarge-Shute Creek facility, which produces around 20% of the world’s supply. Along with ExxonMobil’s project, it produces from the La Barge Platform.

“They are on the La Barge platform, which is this big, buried structure that allowed gases to accumulate for probably close to 70 million years,” Center for Economic Geology Research Director Fred McLaughlin told Cowboy State Daily in a previous interview. “And that’s one of the secrets to getting helium to slowly build up, because helium is a small atom, and it’s super buoyant and slippery.”

     The La Barge Platform is located at the edge of the Green River Basin and offers a very good helium trapping mechanism. The new project is also expected to produce about 1 TCF of natural gas over its lifetime.

     The Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (JAPEX) is a partner in the project.

“They’ve been a great strategic partner and have really helped us get to the point where we are at, ready to begin construction on May 1,” Moses said.

     Moses also notes that the state and county will benefit from the significant tax revenue.

“We will be generating over $20 million per year in severance taxes to the state of Wyoming,” Moses said. “And over $20 million a year in ad valorem taxes to Sublette County, where the project is located.”

“Over a 50-year project lifespan, that’s close to $2 billion in combined tax revenues, Moses said. There will also be about $300 million in helium royalties sent to the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments.

     According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM):

“The project is estimated to be capable of producing more than 800 million cubic feet of bulk liquid helium per year from subsurface mineral estates.”

“With this approval, Blue Spruce Operating, LLC, may construct a natural gas plant to process and separate raw gas streams into saleable helium and methane products. The project includes nine gas production wells, access roads, buried gathering and utility lines, a natural gas residue sales pipeline, and an acid-gas injection facility to permanently sequester excess carbon in federal pore space deep underground. Commercial operations are expected to begin during the summer of 2028.”

References:

 

With New Sublette County Helium Plant, Wyoming Will Supply 30% Of World's Helium. Renee Jean. Cowboy State Daily. December 19, 2025. With New Sublette County Helium Plant, Wyoming Will Supply 30% Of World's Helium | Cowboy State Daily

BLM approves Dry Piney helium and carbon sequestration project. U.S. Bureau of Land Management. December 17, 2025. BLM approves Dry Piney helium and carbon sequestration project | Bureau of Land Management

Noble Gas Geochemistry at the La Barge Platform, Wyoming, USA: CO2 Source and Potential Total Petroleum System Investigation Tool. Matthew D. Merrill, Celeste D. Lohr, and Andrew G. Hunt. U.S. Geological Survey. AQPG Search and Discovery Article #20299 (2015). ndx_merrill.pdf