Blue Star secures green light for helium exploration well

It’s all systems go for Blue Star after the company received approval to spud its very first helium exploration well, the intriguing Enterprise 16#1 well in Colorado.

The Form 2 approval is the first such permit in Colorado and the first approved drilling application of any type in Las Animas County, since changes to the state permitting landscape were enacted in January 2021.

Blue Star Helium (ASX:BNL) was also the first helium play to secure Form 2A oil and gas development plan (OGDP) approval back in August following the eponymous “Biden Test”, a series of executive orders from the Biden Administration that targeted hydrocarbon drilling but caused additional complexity and delay across drilling applications.

The company has already selected its preferred rig and drilling is now expected to begin in January 2022 should weather permit.

Enterprise 16#1 will mark the first step in confirming the company’s unrisked prospective helium resource of 13.4 billion cubic feet contained across its Galactica, Pegasus, Argo, Enterprise and Galileo prospects.

All of these prospects are located within the Lyons Helium Play Fairway that was proven by the Model Dome helium field which produced gas with grades of up to 8% helium and are also on trend with the Govt Cynthia True #1 well which flow tested 8.8% helium.

Recent activity

The well approval is just the latest milestone the company has recently nailed.

The recent redrilling of the BBB-1 water well at the Voyager prospect intersected a 134 feet gas column, four times more than noted at the original well, where gas analysis returned a helium concentration of 8.8%.

Data from the Hill#2 water well shows a 29 feet gas column down-dip form the Enterprise 16#1 location.

Blue Star also reached an agreement to form an Area of Mutual Interest, which includes its Serenity prospect, with Vecta Oil and Gas – an existing helium producer in Cheyenne County – and Prospero Oil and Gas.

This article was developed in collaboration with Blue Star Helium, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.