Product catalogue
Helium in the Australian liquefied natural gas economy
Australia is about to become the premier global exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), bringing increased opportunities for helium extraction. Processing of natural gas to LNG necessitates the exclusion and disposal of nonhydrocarbon components, principally carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Minor to trace hydrogen, helium and higher noble gases in the LNG feed-in gas become concentrated with nitrogen in the non-condensable LNG tail gas. Helium is commercially extracted worldwide from this LNG tail gas. Australia has one helium plant in Darwin where gas (containing 0.1% He) from the Bayu-Undan accumulation in the Bonaparte Basin is processed for LNG and the tail gas, enriched in helium (3%), is the feedstock for helium extraction. With current and proposed LNG facilities across Australia, it is timely to determine whether the development of other accumulations offers similar potential. Geoscience Australia has obtained helium contents in ~800 Australian natural gases covering all hydrocarbon-producing sedimentary basins. Additionally, the origin of helium has been investigated using the integration of helium, neon and argon isotopes, as well as the stable carbon <sup>13</sup>C/<sup>12</sup>C) isotopes of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbon gases and isotopes (<sup>15</sup>N/<sup>14</sup>N) of nitrogen. With no apparent loss of helium and nitrogen throughout the LNG industrial process, together with the estimated remaining resources of gas accumulations, a helium volumetric seriatim results in the Greater Sunrise (Bonaparte Basin) > Ichthys (Browse Basin) > Goodwyn–North Rankin (Northern Carnarvon Basin) accumulations having considerably more untapped economic value in helium extraction than the commercial Bayu-Undan LNG development.
Presented at Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) Exhibition & Conference 2018
<b>Citation:</b> Boreham CJ, Edwards DS, Poreda RJ, Darrah TH, Zhu R, Grosjean E, Main P, Waltenberg K, Henson PA. (2018) Helium in the Australian liquefied natural gas economy. <i>The APPEA Journal</i> 58, 209–237. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17049
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2017-08-23T11:00:00
- Date (Publication)
- 2018-05-02T00:54:21
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/112814
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Author Boreham, C.J.
Co-author Edwards, D.
Co-author Poreda, R.J.
Co-author Darrah, T.H.
Co-author Zhu, R.
Co-author Grosjean, E.
Co-author Main, P.T.
Co-author Waltenberg, K.
Co-author Henson, P.
- Name
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The APPEA Journal
- Issue identification
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Volume 58, Issue 1, May 2018
- Page
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209-237
- Purpose
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Abstract presented at APPEA Conference 2018 then published in the APPEA journal
- Status
- Completed
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Boreham, C.J.
Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- Spatial representation type
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
Resource format
- Title
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Product data repository: Various Formats
- Protocol
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FILE:DATA-DIRECTORY
- Name of the resource
-
Data Store directory containing the digital product files
- Description
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Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes
- Theme
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Helium
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LNG
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Australia
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argon
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carbon dioxide
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neon
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nitrogen
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noble gas
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remaining hydrocarbon resources
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stable isotopes
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- Discipline
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petroleum geochemistry
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- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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EARTH SCIENCES
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- Keywords
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Amadeus Basin
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Bass Basin
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Bonaparte Basin
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Bowen-Surat basins
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Browse Basin
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Canning Basin
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Cooper-Eromanga basins
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Gippsland Basin
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Gunnedah Basin
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Otway Basin
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Perth Basin
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Northern Carnarvon
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Timor Sea
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Organic geochemistry
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Resource potential
-
- Keywords
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0
- Alternate title
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CC-BY-NC-ND
- Edition
-
4.0
- Access constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- License
Resource constraints
- Title
-
Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
-
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- OnLine resource
-
Link to Paper
Link to Paper
- OnLine resource
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Download Presentation (pdf) [2.45 MB]
Download Presentation (pdf) [2.45 MB]
Resource lineage
- Statement
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Abstract presented at APPEA Conference 2018 then published in the APPEA journal
Metadata constraints
- Title
-
Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
-
urn:uuid/ad97cdb3-700b-4152-ba3f-348939a64c73
- Title
-
GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
-
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Custodian Boreham, C.J.
Resource provider Resources Division
Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Document
- Name
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Conference Abstract
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
-
Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/112814
- Date info (Creation)
- 2025-11-28T03:55:08.91Z
- Date info (Creation)
- 2025-11-28T03:35:02.581Z
- Date info (Creation)
- 2017-08-23T00:25:50
- Date info (Revision)
- 2025-11-28T03:56:09.159Z
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
-
ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
-
ISO 19115-3
- Title
-
Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
-
Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551