Helix Exploration (LSE:HEX) - Helium’s Critical Status & Keyes Liquefier Drive Next Growth Phase
Interview with Bo Sears, CEO of Helix Exploration Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/helix-exploration-lsehex-self-funding-model-for-helium-exploration-7306 Recording date: 28th October 2026 Helix Exploration (LSE:HEX) has moved further along the helium value chain than most listed peers. The company produces gaseous helium at its Rudyard project in northern Montana and, since July 2026, owns the Keyes helium liquefaction complex in Oklahoma. CEO Bo Sears, who has 26 years in the helium industry, says Keyes makes Helix hold one of only six helium liquefiers in the United States. Rudyard is the upstream engine. Its gaseous plant can handle up to 6 million cubic feet of raw gas per day at maximum capacity, which Sears expects could fill roughly one 160,000-cubic-foot tube trailer every other day. Processing relies on membranes and pressure swing adsorption, a low-pressure route with nominal power and compression costs. Membranes need no power, so capacity can be added in modular steps as more gas becomes available. Sears says the plant was bought at a steep discount, which keeps the capital base low. Helix owns its own used drilling rig and crew, which Sears says pays for itself after three wells by removing mobilisation costs and day rates of up to $20,000. It is the only rig in northern Montana, according to Sears. The company is drilling its fifth well, with Ollie #1 awaiting perforation and a flow test and the rig now at Ross #1. Permits are granted per well by the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, and the most recent took a couple of days. Helix now files in batches to keep the rig moving. All Rudyard gas is contracted until the end of the first quarter of 2027. Pricing and the buyer are confidential, but Sears describes the terms as very good given today's shortage. He expects firm pricing at least until the current conflict ends and does not assume spot-level prices will last indefinitely. Keyes is the downstream differentiator. Sears says the plant came with take-or-pay contracts and tolling arrangements, is already making money and is running at maximum capacity. He puts its input at 465,000 cubic feet, equivalent to 13 liquid ISO containers a month. It also owns several hundred miles of gathering pipeline, giving Helix midstream tolling revenue. Unlike larger plants fed by the declining Hugoton field, Keyes was designed for explorer gas, so it can toll for third parties. Sears does not plan to expand it, noting a new liquefier would cost $50 million to $100 million. The macro backdrop has strengthened. The US Department of Energy designated helium a critical material on October 2026, and Sears says this opens funding and tax credit opportunities. View Helix Exploration's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/helix-exploration Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe