First Helium unveils Alberta heavy oil discovery

Canada

CALGARY, March 21, 2025 – First Helium has made a discovery of shallow heavy oil and confirmed the extension of a helium-enriched natural gas play in Canada’s Alberta, the company said on Friday.

First Helium confirmed two discoveries at its Worsley Project, located in Northern Alberta, including a shallow heavy oil discovery and an extension of the Blue Ridge helium enriched natural gas play.

The company, which First Helium seeks to become one of North America’s leading independent providers of helium gas, holds over 53,000 acres along the highly prospective Worsley Trend.

The company reported that its recently completed 7-30 well recovered approximately 50 barrels of 15-degree API oil within two calendar days following an acid stimulation, demonstrating vertical well, cold flow heavy oil capability. The 7-15 well, without stimulation, also produced small quantities of heavy oil from the same formation and was shut in for further evaluation following spring breakup.

“Our recent drilling program has validated what we’ve long understood about the multi-zone potential of our Worsley property,” president and CEO Ed Bereznicki said.

“While our primary oil target in the Leduc formation did not test as commercially viable, our secondary target for heavy oil has exceeded our expectations for inflow of cold flow heavy oil from a vertical well bore. We are very excited to proceed with the development of this potentially large, shallow heavy oil play utilizing contemporary horizontal drilling methods. Our initial economic analyses indicate attractive rate of return estimates for a large, lower risk development play.”

The heavy oil zone has been recognised by First Helium in numerous existing wellbores across its 53,000-acre Worsley land base, representing the potential for a large, lower-risk oil development opportunity using contemporary horizontal drilling technology.

Based on the company’s evaluation, including results from the 7-15 and 7-30 wells, First Helium estimates approximately 5 million barrels of original oil in place per square mile. The company-owned oil battery and water disposal facilities nearby are expected to reduce operating costs. The company is now proceeding to prepare a plan for an area development project across Worsley.

Next steps include bringing the 7-30 heavy oil zone into production and preparing to drill a horizontal test well into the shallow formation to kickstart the development plan, both activities targeted for early Q3.

The company also confirmed the extension of the Blue Ridge Formation from West Worsley to the eastern portion of its property through recent drilling.

The 7-15 well gas sample analysis returned an average helium content of 1.0%, notably higher than the 0.8% recorded at West Worsley. This confirmed the observed trend of increasing helium content from west to east across the company’s Worsley land base.

“In addition to the heavy oil play, we are pleased to confirm the extension of our Blue Ridge helium enriched natural gas play to the eastern block of First Helium’s land base. This has the potential to significantly increase the size of this regional play at Worsley, making it attractive to potential partners for large scale development,” Bereznicki said.

First Helium’s company-owned pipeline network provides an infrastructure advantage for development across Worsley. The company’s next steps include completing and testing the 5-27 horizontal well and preparing an area development plan in collaboration with potential project partners.