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Bureau of Land Management Adjusts Price of 2012 Federal Crude Helium
Amarillo, TX – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced revised pricing for the crude helium that will be offered during its 2012 Open Market Sale effective October 2011.
The new price reflects a market-based pricing policy based on the Consumer Price Index (industrials). As a result, Federal Crude Helium will be sold at $75.75 per thousand cubic feet for FY2012 as compared to $75.00 in 2011. This price covers helium debt repayment and interest, and administrative and storage costs, as required by the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 (Act).
The cost of helium sold for federal purposes will continue to be the minimum allowed by the Act. For Fiscal Year 2012 the pricing has been adjusted to $65.50 up from $64.75 in FY2011.
The BLM’s Amarillo Field Office oversees the Federal Helium Program. “Getting a fair price for Federal Crude Helium is our obligation and this year’s new pricing represents our commitment to that goal” said Leslie Theiss, the Amarillo Field Manager.
The BLM is responsible for administering the Department of the Interior’s Federal Helium Program following the intent and requirements of the Federal Helium Privatization Act of 1996 (Act). The Act established a minimum pricing for the helium based on a calculation that would retire the program’s total debt to the US Treasury by 2015. Until 2010, the BLM had been charging the minimum price established by the Act, a price that represents the cost of the helium not its value on the open market. The new pricing methodology is in response to recommendations from the 2010 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, “Selling the Nation’s Helium Reserve”. The report identified recommendations that serve the US national interests and the interests of US taxpayers. The NAS report suggests that selling crude helium at market price rather than the legislated minimum could, “enable more rapid retirement of BLM facilities debt to the US Treasury – a central goal of the 1996 Act.”
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.