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American Pre-Drill Natural Gas & Helium Asset
TBD
160050000
$128,040,000
✕
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American Pre-Drill Natural Gas & Helium Asset
This project is an institutional pre-drill exploration program focused on delineating subsurface natural (geological) hydrogen and co-occurring strategic helium systems in the U.S. Gulf Coast basin (Texas). The sponsor is raising $13.5M in staged, milestone-gated capital over an 18 to 19 month exploration lifecycle to convert existing proprietary desktop reconnaissance into 1 to 2 substantiated, drill-ready subsurface targets. This structure isolates pre-drill geologic confirmation from downstream development risk, minimizing dry-hole exposure prior to full-scale drilling and plant capital deployment.
Core Investment Thesis & Strategic Moat
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Empirical Field Provenance: The venture’s proprietary predictive geological targeting is backed by direct historical operating leadership on the first benchmark U.S. natural hydrogen exploration well (drilled in Fillmore County, Nebraska in 2019), which logged high-grade wellhead gas tests of 44% hydrogen and 12.8% helium.
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Disruptive Cost & Carbon Profile: Natural geologic extraction yields an estimated production cost of $0.50 to $1.00 per kg of hydrogen with an ultra-low carbon intensity (~0.4 kg CO2e per kg of hydrogen), heavily outcompeting both green water-electrolysis ($4.50 to $12.00 per kg) and fossil grey SMR ($1.00 to $3.00 per kg) routes.
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High-Margin Helium Kicker: Helium demand in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, quantum computing, cryogenics, and aerospace creates an outsized revenue cushion. Modeled conservatively at an initial 2% concentration by volume and priced at a discount to spot, helium serves as a primary driver of project capital efficiency and early payback.
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Texas Jurisdiction & Infrastructure Advantage: Texas provides clear administrative and mineral rights pathways (~1 month / ~$200K acquisition profile), competitive rig mobilization rates, and direct access to heavy industrial offtake clusters (refineries, ammonia, methanol, and chemical complexes) along Gulf Coast distribution corridors.
Capital Tranches & Milestone De-Risking Gates
Pre-drill equity deployment is governed by technical decision gates, releasing capital only upon definitive geologic evidence:
| Gate / Phase | Duration | Capital | Primary Scope of Work | Unlocked Milestone |
| Gate 1: Target Selection | 3 to 4 months | $1.5M |
Finalize desktop leads, rank prospective acreage, establish initial permitting frameworks.
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Narrow asset portfolio to 3 to 4 Areas of Interest (AOIs).
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| Gate 2: Field Validity | 6 months | $3.0M |
Mineral licensing across 2 AOIs; surface geochemical soil surveys to test gas migration pathways.
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Prioritize 1 to 2 AOIs with confirmed surface anomaly signatures.
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| Gate 3: Drill Readiness | 9 months | $9.0M |
2D/3D geophysics, structural model refinement, shallow strat-hole drilling, FEED/permitting readiness.
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Deliver 1 to 2 drill-ready structures prepared for exploration drilling financing.
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| Total Program | 18 to 19 months | $13.5M |
Full pre-drill program prior to development-stage underwriting.
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Drill-ready status achieved.
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Project Financial Model (Per Single Commercial Structure)
The financial model below details an illustrative commercial exploitation scenario for one target structure under baseline Texas execution conditions against an upside regional benchmark, incorporating full extraction, separation, and purification surface infrastructure.
1. Baseline Assumptions & Technical Specifications
| Parameter | Texas Execution Case | California Benchmark Case | Basis / Source |
| Pre-Drill Equity Investment | $13.5M | $13.5M |
Program de-risking raise
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| Commercial Facility CAPEX | $150.0M | $150.0M |
Extraction, purification, separation plant
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| Construction Timeline | 4.0 Years | 4.0 Years |
Engineering, procurement, construction
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| Annual Hydrogen Nameplate Output | 25.0 ktpa (25.0M kg) | 25.0 ktpa (25.0M kg) |
High purity grade (99.999%)
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| Annual Helium Nameplate Output | 1.0 ktpa (1.0M kg) | 1.0 ktpa (1.0M kg) |
Ultra-high purity (up to 7N grade)
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| Delivered Hydrogen Contract Price | $3.00 per kg | $5.00 per kg |
Pipeline / regional delivery within ~20 km
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| Realized Helium Gate Price (EXW) | $90.00 per kg | $90.00 per kg |
Significant discount vs. ~$150 per kg market spot
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| Direct Operating Cost (Hydrogen) | $1.00 per kg | $1.00 per kg |
Subsurface natural lift + processing
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| Direct Operating Cost (Helium) | $8.00 per kg | $8.00 per kg |
Separation & liquefaction/storage
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| Facility Operating Uptime | 97.0% | 97.0% |
Base industrial plant availability factor
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| Discount Rate (Real) | 10.5% | 10.5% |
Project weighted average cost of capital
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2. Steady-State Annual Operating Performance (Year 5+)
Reflecting 97% operational availability across both product streams:
| Line Item | Texas Execution Case | California Benchmark Case | Notes |
| Gross Hydrogen Revenue | $72.75M | $121.25M |
Based on 24.25M kg sold
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| Gross Helium Revenue | $87.30M | $87.30M |
Based on 0.97M kg sold
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| Total Net Revenue | $160.05M | $208.55M |
Combined multi-gas stream
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| Direct Hydrogen Operating Costs | ($24.25M) | ($24.25M) |
$1.00 per kg produced
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| Direct Helium Operating Costs | ($7.76M) | ($7.76M) |
$8.00 per kg produced
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| Total Direct Operating Costs | ($32.01M) | ($32.01M) |
Field extraction and processing opex
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| Steady-State EBITDA | $128.04M | $176.54M |
Annual cash operating profit
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| EBITDA Operating Margin | 80.0% | 84.7% |
High margin driven by helium co-production
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3. Indicative Multi-Year Project Cash Flow Model (10-Year Snapshot in $M)
Reflecting a 4-year development and construction period followed by steady-state production:
| Line Item ($M) | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 (COD) | Year 6 | Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 |
| Pre-Drill Equity Tranche | ($4.50) | ($9.00) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Facility Construction CAPEX | — | — | ($75.00) | ($75.00) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Commercial Revenue (TX Base) | — | — | — | — | $160.05 | $160.05 | $160.05 | $160.05 | $160.05 | $160.05 |
| Operating Costs (TX Base) | — | — | — | — | ($32.01) | ($32.01) | ($32.01) | ($32.01) | ($32.01) | ($32.01) |
| Net Operating Cash Flow | ($4.50) | ($9.00) | ($75.00) | ($75.00) | $128.04 | $128.04 | $128.04 | $128.04 | $128.04 | $128.04 |
| Cumulative Net Cash Flow | ($4.50) | ($13.50) | ($88.50) | ($163.50) | ($35.46) | $92.58 | $220.62 | $348.66 | $476.70 | $604.74 |
4. Return Metrics & Sensitivity Summary
| Valuation Metric | Texas Execution Base Case | California Upside Case | Sensitivity Notes |
| Net Present Value (NPV at 10.5%) | ~$300M | ~$500M |
Driven by a +$2.00 per kg premium on hydrogen
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| Internal Rate of Return (IRR) | ~38% | ~52% |
Robust downside buffer provided by helium sales
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| Discounted Payback Period (DPP) | ~6.7 Years | ~5.7 Years |
Incorporates the 4-year development phase
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| Helium Revenue Contribution | 54.5% | 41.9% |
Represents ~3.8% of product volume but over half of base revenue
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Transaction Structuring & Partnership Terms
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Financing Target: $13.5M technical exploration financing.
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Entity Structure: Project-level special purpose vehicle (SPV) / asset-level partnership covering the Texas perimeter.
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Cap Table Split:
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80% Project Equity: Allocated to the incoming investor syndicate against $13.5M cash commitments.
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20% Sponsor Equity: Held by the management founding entity in consideration of in-kind technical IP, proprietary geological algorithms, and desktop studies.
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Syndicate Target: Seeking a lead investor commitment of $3.5M+ to set board governance, pacing, and tranche clearance criteria, supported by participating co-investors and corporate strategics from $1.0M+.
Description
Core Investment Thesis & Strategic Moat
Capital Tranches & Milestone De-Risking Gates
Project Financial Model (Per Single Commercial Structure)
1. Baseline Assumptions & Technical Specifications
2. Steady-State Annual Operating Performance (Year 5+)
3. Indicative Multi-Year Project Cash Flow Model (10-Year Snapshot in $M)
4. Return Metrics & Sensitivity Summary
Transaction Structuring & Partnership Terms
Basic Details
Target Price:
$ 0
Gross Revenue
$160,050,000
EBITDA
$128,040,000
Business ID:
L#20261218
Country
United States
State:
United States
Detail
Published on November 3, 2026 at 12:13 pm. Updated on November 3, 2026 at 1:05 pm