HOUSTON, April 27, 2026, 14:03 (CDT)
U.S. Energy Corp. has locked in a five-year helium sales deal with a global industrial gas company carrying investment-grade credit, securing a customer for supplies from its proposed Big Sky Carbon Hub in Montana. The Houston-based company declined to identify the buyer.
This deal shifts Big Sky from just a proposal to a project with real sales behind it, ahead of the company’s planned commercial launch in the first quarter of 2027. The agreement locks in all helium produced at the plant near Oilmont, Montana—up to 1.2 million cubic feet per month—at a fixed price of $285 per thousand cubic feet. Prices will start to rise with inflation in March 2028.
If output hits the monthly ceiling, the base price works out to around $342,000 each month—about $4.1 million a year without factoring in any future price hikes. This isn’t a projection; it just takes the contract’s maximum volume and the planned delivery start as givens.
U.S. Energy (Nasdaq: USEG) surged roughly 21% to $1.12, after spiking as high as $1.64 earlier. Turnover ballooned to about 183 million shares. The company’s market cap hovered near $38.5 million.
U.S. Energy wrapped up an expanded $20 million senior secured debt facility on April 20, a deal that, combined with March equity proceeds, should finish funding Big Sky’s Phase 1, according to the company. Management also put a halt to new draws from its equity line of credit, saying the pause was intended to address dilution worries.
The agreement uses a “take-or-pay” setup — the buyer’s on the hook for either collecting the contracted production or shelling out for the volumes on offer, with some carveouts. U.S. Energy noted the counterparty’s picking up at the plant, so anything downstream, from shipping to processing and distribution, is on the buyer. SEC
Ryan Smith, president and CEO of U.S. Energy, called the pact a “defining milestone,” adding it “meaningfully de-risks” Phase 1 commercial operations. The agreement, he said, locks in long-term helium revenue for Big Sky while it pursues its separate carbon-management strategy. SEC
Helium doesn’t have the scale of oil or copper, but it’s hardly obscure. Labs rely on it. So do manufacturers of specialty gases, fiber optics, and semiconductors. It’s critical for MRI machines and aerospace, too. For 2025, the U.S. Geological Survey pegs domestic Grade-A and gaseous helium sales at 81 million cubic meters, translating to roughly $970 million.
The market’s move lines up with the timing. Back in March, Reuters flagged a doubling in helium spot prices after Qatar’s natural gas operations hit snags. AKAP Energy’s Anish Kapadia described “early indications” of spot prices climbing roughly 50%. If these supply issues don’t clear up, producers like Exxon Mobil and North American Helium stand to gain. Air Products, on the other hand, landed squarely among the industrial gas names feeling the pinch from the supply shock, according to Reuters. Reuters
U.S. Energy is still in the midst of a transition, and it’s showing in the numbers. For 2025, the company hauled in $7.35 million in revenue—a steep 64% drop from 2024—posting a net loss of $14.4 million. The primary culprit: falling oil and gas output following asset sales. The company’s move into industrial gases is supposed to shift the balance, but so far, helium sales haven’t made a dent.
Execution risk hasn’t gone away. In its own annual report, U.S. Energy flagged that its industrial gas assets are still in an early phase and might not ever produce commercially viable volumes. The company also listed processing and transport costs, swings in commodity prices, and the challenge of financing as factors that could all weigh on future profitability.
Up ahead, the next checkpoint is regulatory and operational. The company maintains that carbon dioxide recovery, sequestration and Section 45Q tax credits are fully distinct from its helium revenues, and says it’s moving forward on Monitoring, Reporting and Verification plans with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—these are key for logging carbon storage to qualify for tax credits.
Investors will get more detail on timing May 7, when U.S. Energy lays out first-quarter numbers before trading begins. Plant construction progress, EPA signoff, and any fresh timeline for Big Sky are expected to overshadow older oil operations.
