A royal boost for Saskatchewan’s helium market: Government credit programme supports project developments

Royal Helium has become the latest firm to benefit from the Government of Saskatchewan’s helium incentive programme and it continues to spearhead its goal of becoming a world leader in the space.

The helium exploration firm today (26th July) said it had received approval from the Minister of Energy and Resources of the Government of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Petroleum Innovation Incentive (SPII) programme.

To help create a level playing field when it comes to the helium market, the Government of Saskatchewan laid out two incentive programmes for the sector when it launched its Helium Action plan in November (2021).

With Royal now benefiting from one of these, the firm can receive up to $4.2m in royalty tax credits based on eligible project costs incurred to date at Nazare. It is hoped these credits will be received during the current quarter.

Looking beyond this, additional royalty tax credits will be applied for on an ongoing basis for eligible costs associated with expenditures such as the upcoming horizontal wells drilled into Nazare, construction of processing facilities and all other applicable future programmes.

Andrew Davidson, President and CEO of Royal Helium, said, “We are extremely pleased with the agility the Saskatchewan government has shown in quickly implementing their new Helium Action Plan and how quickly they have been able to process and approve our first submission.”

“An obvious benefit to Royal now and going forward, this programme provides Saskatchewan operators with a significant cost advantage over most jurisdictions in North America.”

“All proceeds received, or royalties saved by Royal as a result of this programme will be re-invested into the continued expansion of our helium production plans in Saskatchewan.”

Earlier this month (July 2022), gasworld sat down exclusively with Jim Reiter, Minister of Energy and Resources for the Saskatchewan Government, to discuss Saskatchewan’s Helium Action Plan and the incentive programmes offered as part of this.

In such interview, Reiter explained, “Saskatchewan is already blessed with the resource, but the two incentive programmes are another support mechanism for market players. SPII offers transferable oil and gas royalty/freehold production tax credits for qualified innovation commercialisation projects at a rate of 25% of eligible project costs.”

“The programme targets a broad rand of innovations deployed across all segments of Saskatchewan’s oil and gas or helium industry. As a deliverable in the Helium Action Plan, the incentive programme was recently expanded to recognise innovative helium projects as eligible also.”

The full interview with Minister Reiter will be published in the August issue of gasworld US.