NASCO AG: Long-term strategic realignment on helium pays off

NASCO CEO Jan Warstat stated, ‟More than 90% of our operational business is now in the helium segment. Now more than ever we are certain that the realignment we made to fully focusing on the highly profitable niche market of helium was absolutely the right decision. We are in the process of searching and developing additional assets to further strengthen our position as one of the biggest helium producers in the United States of America. We are confident we will emerge well prepared from the current worldwide COVID-19 crises”

NASCO Energie & Rohstoff AG has been making targeted investments to expand their helium activities since 2014. Previously, their helium production focused solely on a site in Arizona which is located in the Four Corners region. What makes that field so remarkable is that its raw gas has an average helium content of more than five percent, a rare global occurrence. In comparison, most experts believe that gas streams starts being economically worth extracting when it has helium content of 0.5 percent.

NASCO is the controlling shareholder of the Arizona field and holds 80% of the permits and controls 80% of the Operating Company, Capitol Operating Group, LLC.

Increasing Global Demand for Helium:

Global demand for the noble gas helium is increasing, yet its availability on this planet is limited. The USA is the biggest market for helium, followed by Asia and Europe. Helium has many commercial and scientific uses worldwide, primarily in cryogenics as a coolant for very low temperatures (e.g., for cooling superconducting magnets for CT scans), as a material used in welding and cutting, as a tracer gas for leak detection, as a compressed gas to deploy automobile airbags, as a lifting gas for airships and balloons, and also as a component gas of breathing mixes for divers. In addition, it plays a decisive role in researching new technologies.