The world's helium supply is facing a shortage seven months after Iranian strikes on a Qatari gas facility and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
asserted
supply → face → Hormuz
A range of industries are feeling the impact with no end to the war in sight.
asserted
range → feel → sight
While most people associate helium with party balloons and squeaky voices, this finite and irreplaceable natural resource is critical for modern life.
asserted
resource → associate → life
Helium is also challenging to extract and transport, according to Cliff Cain, the president of a helium exploration company.
uncertain
Helium → extract → company
It needs to be kept at 452 degrees below zero Fahrenheit in transit.
asserted
It → need → transit
Once released into the atmosphere, that's it for helium – it's gone.
asserted
it → release → helium
Cain said he's spent decades warning that the complicated supply chain is vulnerable to disruption, with the helium supply concentrated in too few locations: Algeria, Poland, Russia, Qatar and the United States, with the bulk coming from the latter two countries.
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bulk → say → countries
"All it takes is a few of those to fall and the whole supply chain comes unraveled," he said.
asserted
he → take → those
What does the Iran war have to do with helium?
asserted
war → have → helium
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz in February trapped one-third of the global helium supply in the Persian Gulf.
asserted
closure → trap → Gulf
Then,
, the facility that produces all that helium in Qatar, was hit by Iranian strikes in March, further rattling supply chains.
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that → produce → chains
After the strikes, the Qataris said it would take at least three years to get the facility back in full operation.
asserted
it → say → operation
Ras Laffan did not respond to requests for comment about the extent of the damage to the helium infrastructure specifically.
asserted
Laffan → respond → infrastructure
Qatar is the second largest producer of commercial helium in the world after the U.S. Most of the U.S. helium comes from a single Wyoming facility, according to the Wyoming Energy Authority, and U.S. helium exports are up 70% since the war began, according to export data from the US Census Bureau.
But the U.S. can't offset the shortage indefinitely, and the longer the war with Iran continues, the tighter the global supply chain of helium gets.
uncertain
chain → come → helium
Spot prices on helium have tripled since the start of the war, according to Rich Brooke, a former executive at Air Liquide, one of the six major international helium suppliers.
uncertain
prices → triple → suppliers
Companies in South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore are now looking to the U.S. for helium, and it's not clear how long the U.S. can accommodate that demand.
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U.S. → look → demand
It depends on how long the war lasts.
asserted
war → depend → ?
For now, some helium suppliers are drawing from their reserves, which are stored in deep, underground salt caverns.
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which → draw → caverns
"If you can tell me what's going to happen in the Strait of Hormuz between now and three months from now, I can tell you exactly what'll be happening in the helium business.
asserted
what → tell → business
Unfortunately, you can't, and so I can't," Brooke said.
asserted
Brooke → say → ?
Helium: More than something for balloons
With war ongoing, the Pentagon has asked some defense contractors to quadruple their production capacities of certain weapons.
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Pentagon → ask → weapons
That worries Cliff Cain because helium is needed for weapons development, he says.
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he → worry → development
"You can't make modern warfare without helium.
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You → make → helium
And that's just a fact," Cain said.
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Cain → say → ?
"You've heard about the missiles, the hypersonics.
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You → hear → missiles
Without helium, you can't make the fiber optics.
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you → make → optics
You can't produce the munitions.
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You → produce → munitions
You can't produce the electronics that goes on these things.
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that → produce → things
And so if you don't have helium, your opportunity to make war becomes even more difficult."
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opportunity → have → war
The nonrenewable natural resource is also used in scientific research, including at Joe Sachleben's University of Chicago lab.
asserted
resource → use → lab
The lab uses helium in nuclear magnetic resonance machines to develop breast cancer drugs, immunotherapies and treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
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lab → use → disease
While helium is naturally a gas, it becomes a liquid if it gets cold enough — the coldest on Earth.
asserted
it → become → Earth
Every couple of months, Sachleben pours 100 liters (roughly 26 gallons) of helium onto magnets in the lab to stabilize them at 452 degrees below zero.
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Sachleben → pour → zero
"Once it gets to a critical level, we have to put helium back in the magnet to keep it cold," he said.
asserted
he → get → it
"If that doesn't happen, we break the magnet"
asserted
we → happen → magnet
One-fifth of the world's helium is consumed by the semiconductor industry, according to the Compressed Gas Association.
uncertain
fifth → consume → Association
Polar Semiconductors outside Minneapolis manufactures chips for car engine systems, servers in data centers and the U.S. military.
asserted
Semiconductors → manufacture → centers
Around 40-50% of the machines in a fab, the ultra clean area where they manufacture the semiconductors, use helium in some way, according to Polar's President and COO Surya Iyer.
uncertain
they → manufacture → Iyer
Hundreds of steps in the process involve helium.
asserted
Hundreds → involve → helium
Everything gets shut down.
asserted
Everything → shut → ?
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
