Helium 1 is a joint venture owned by QatarEnergy LNG S(1), QatarEnergy LNG S(2) and QatarEnergy LNG N(1), and operated by QatarEnergy LNG. The plant was announced in 2003 and came on stream two years later. Helium 2, also operated by QatarEnergy LNG, is a joint venture owned by QatarEnergy LNG S(3), QatarEnergy LNG N(2), QatarEnergy LNG N(3) and QatarEnergy LNG N(4). Its plant - the world's largest - began production in the third quarter of 2013.
Liquid helium from the Helium 1 plant fulfils sales contracts with the Linde Group (previously known as BOC Group) and Air Liquide. The first liquid helium was produced in August 2005.
In 2008, the Helium 1 plant reached its designed production capacity of 700 million standard cubic feet per year (or more than 9 tons per day) and 465 containers were produced. Production currently stands at more than 500 containers a year.
The customers for liquid helium from the Helium 2 plant are Air Liquide (50%), Linde Gases (30%) and Iwatani Corporation (20%). The annual capacity of the new plant is 1.3 billion standard cubic feet.
Although the North Field contains only a trace amount of helium, estimated at 0.04% of the reservoir’s contents, its vast size means that the helium available is expected to be enough to meet world demand for the next 30 years. With both helium plants operating at full capacity, QatarEnergy LNG will supply approximately 25% of the world's total helium production.