As we approach the end of 2018, it appears likely that the current period of supply shortage that has affected global helium markets for most of this year will likely continue through the end of 2019, if not longer.
The current period of tight helium supply, the third period of sustained shortage since 2006, can be traced back to the Saudi-led embargo of Qatar which caused a shutdown of approximately 30% of the world’s helium production for several weeks in June of 2017. While Qatari helium production was only lost for a few weeks, it took several months for helium markets to recover and the major helium suppliers are still dealing with the embargo’s impact on their logistics and supply chains.
When supply from Qatar was lost from the market, the helium refiners (Air Products, Keyes Helium, Linde and Praxair) immediately moved to ramp up production at the helium refining plants linked to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Crude Helium Pipeline and Storage System. With the demand for crude helium feed gas quickly exceeding the deliverable capacity of the BLM Pipeline, the BLM was forced to implement a formal allocation of crude helium feed gas to the helium refiners which has remained in place at varying levels ever since.
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