How is petroleum formed?

For more related chemical engineering and experimental principles, refer to the following: Colliding icy asteroids as indirect evidence for petroleum formation Various types of mineral co-occurrence are widespread in geology. 1. Oil fields are commonly accompanied by natural gas deposits—and sometimes even uranium deposits. If natural gas content is high, dedicated natural gas extraction equipment must be constructed and deployed. If natural gas content is low and lacks sufficient economic value, it is simply flared—burned off directly—as shown in the figure. 2. Carbonate reservoirs hosting oil and gas Carbon dioxide is a common component in icy asteroids; carbonaceous asteroids contain abundant organic carbon and small amounts of inorganic carbon. Extensive, high-density carbonate rock formations are frequently observed within oil and gas reservoirs—constituting a key piece of evidence supporting the icy-asteroid-impact hypothesis. Neither the conventional organic-origin theory nor the traditional mantle-origin theory can adequately explain such carbonate occurrences—especially the exceptionally thick carbonate reservoirs prevalent across giant Middle Eastern oilfields. Carbonate reservoirs refer to accumulations of oil and gas trapped within carbonate rock closures. Reservoir types include those associated with large uplifts, fractured reservoirs, biogenic reef reservoirs, paleo-uplift (buried hill) reservoirs, diagenetic or epigenetic reservoirs, and composite reservoirs. Primary storage space consists mainly of primary pores and secondary fracture-cavity systems. Globally, such reservoirs predominantly develop in formations shaped by dissolution, dolomitization, and tectonic activity. In China’s Tarim Basin, petroleum exploration has extensively leveraged carbonate characteristics—for instance, faulted anticlines, fault blocks, and fracture-cavity reservoirs identified within Cambrian–Ordovician carbonate strata. Similarly, analogous evidence exists at the Pu Guang supergiant gas field located in the northeast corner of the Sichuan Basin. 3. The co-occurrence of helium and natural gas remains poorly explained by existing theories Another puzzling phenomenon is that oil and gas fields universally contain measurable helium concentrations—far exceeding atmospheric helium levels (0.0005%). Helium content varies dramatically across different oil and gas fields. Domestic Chinese natural gas fields generally exhibit relatively low helium concentrations: even the highest—Weiyuan Gas Field—reaches only 0.2%. By contrast, U.S. natural gas fields show markedly higher helium contents: the average helium concentration in natural gas from the U.S. Midwest is approximately 0.8%; certain fields, such as Dineh-bi-Keyah in Arizona, report helium concentrations up to ~6%—yet this deposit shows no detectable radioactivity. In South Africa, in 2013, Renergen acquired exploration and production rights over 187,000 hectares across three towns—Welkom, Virginia, and Tensile—for just $1, aiming to build a small-scale natural gas power station to supply electricity to nearby mines. During testing of natural gas samples from Virginia, the company unexpectedly discovered helium concentrations of 2–4%, quickly enabling successful production of its first batch of liquid helium. Estimated resource value: $4 billion. In May 2024, U.S.-based Pulsar Helium reported a helium concentration of 13.8% at its Jetstream-1 well in the Topaz project, Minnesota—the highest helium concentration ever recorded in North America. This well lies only 50 feet from nickel exploration borehole LOD-6, which—in 2011—accidentally encountered a subsurface gas accumulation at 1,760 feet depth, with helium concentration reaching 10.5%.

Risk assessment and response analysis of China’s high-end helium supply-demand landscape

I. Loss and reserve constraints: Even top-tier industry storage and transport equipment suffer natural daily evaporation losses of 1–2% for liquid helium; losses escalate further during long-term storage and transit. Currently, China’s total liquid helium storage capacity barely covers routine logistics-cycle fluctuations—leaving no buffer against extreme, protracted disruptions such as Qatar’s production facility damage or Russia’s export restrictions. Moreover, liquid helium reserves suffer from low release efficiency: storage, filling, and transfer require specialized equipment and technical expertise. A single batch fill operation—including pretreatment and purging—takes over 10 hours. Under acute shortage conditions, reserve resources cannot be rapidly reallocated to end users, rendering them ineffective at swiftly alleviating large-scale supply deficits. II. Procurement headroom and cost implications post-Russian export restrictions Following Russia’s implementation of export controls, China’s core emergency procurement channel has been severed. Globally available surplus helium resources have essentially dried up, leaving virtually no incremental procurement capacity. Global helium production and trade quotas are highly concentrated among the “Big Four” international helium giants. Mainstream supplying countries have fully committed their capacities under long-term contracts—no idle spot-production capacity remains available for incremental purchases. Examining the supply structure in detail: • Qatar—the traditional core helium exporter to the Asia-Pacific region—has suffered physical damage to its primary production facilities, with repair timelines estimated at 3–5 years. Short-term resumption is impossible. All pre-existing long-term contract volumes have become void, and spot supply has completely ceased. Moreover, constrained by U.S. technology licensing requirements, no alternative production capacity can be brought online. • Secondary suppliers—including Algeria and Australia—have limited export scale; their capacities are long-term locked into Western and Southeast Asian markets, offering no surplus to support incremental Chinese procurement. Spot purchase costs are also comparatively high. • U.S. domestic production prioritizes domestic and allied markets, with zero additional allocation quota for external buyers. Its strategic helium reserve has been fully depleted—offering no emergency fallback capability. • Russia has cut off all helium supplies to the West, while maintaining stable, targeted deliveries to China. Currently, the sole remaining scalable, low-cost, low-risk source of incremental supply is the China–Russia overland gas corridor—leveraging Russia’s expanded production capacity, dedicated China allocation quotas, and secure overland transportation infrastructure—to continuously fill the global supply gap. Meanwhile, the Virginia natural gas project in South Africa has emerged as a globally scarce new variable for incremental supply. Operated by Tetra4—a subsidiary of ASP Isotopes (ASPI)—the project sits in a geopolitically neutral zone, avoiding risks from Middle Eastern conflicts and Western sanctions. Its helium resource endowment vastly exceeds traditional producing regions: average helium concentration reaches 3%, with localized zones hitting up to 12%—8–30 times higher than Qatar’s or U.S. sources—conferring inherent, fundamental advantages in both cost and production scalability. Phase I drilling was completed ahead of schedule in March 2026. New wells yield gas volumes 16 times greater than early oil wells. Full production is expected in Q3 2026, with projected daily liquid helium output of 58,000 cubic feet; 60% of Phase I capacity is already secured under long-term contracts. Phase II entails a 44-month construction timeline. Upon completion, daily liquid helium output will reach a globally significant scale. The project has secured $790 million in policy-backed financing—$790 million jointly provided by the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Standard Bank of South Africa—making it the only large-scale, near-term feasible new helium production capacity globally over the next three years, and the pivotal incremental supply needed to break the current oligopolistic supply deadlock. However, challenges—including infrastructure delays, complex inland logistics, historical project delays, and single-site concentration risk—mean the project cannot reverse the global tight-balance situation in the short term.

ASP Isotopes' Renergen achieves stable helium output at Virginia project

Oct 27, 2026

ASP Isotopes' subsidiary Renergen achieved stable liquid helium production at its Free State project, storing output for initial customer deliveries ahead of commercial launch. The company continues advancing nuclear fuel and silicon enrichment ventures alongside this milestone.

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