Iran War Disrupts One-Third of Global Helium Supply

Client Alert

March 16, 2026

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran, triggering immediate regional escalation and retaliatory strikes across the Gulf. The conflict has cascaded into a severe disruption to global helium supply, a commodity with no viable substitute in semiconductor manufacturing, medical imaging, aerospace, and advanced research.

Iranian drone and missile strikes targeted Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the single largest concentration of helium production infrastructure in the world. On March 2, state-owned QatarEnergy halted all LNG and associated production at the complex. On March 4, QatarEnergy declared force majeure on affected contracts. The company’s CEO has stated that production will not restart until the conflict ends, and that even then, normalization of deliveries would require “weeks to months.”

Because helium is extracted as a byproduct of natural gas processing, the shutdown of Qatar’s LNG operations has simultaneously taken approximately one-third of global helium supply offline. The concurrent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which Qatari helium exports must transit, means that even pre-filled cryogenic containers at Ras Laffan are effectively stranded with no viable maritime route to market.

Helium spot prices have doubled since the crisis began. At least one major industrial gas supplier has introduced surcharges, and industry analysts are characterizing this as “Helium Shortage 5.0,” the fifth major supply-side crisis in two decades. Unlike previous disruptions, this one combines a production shutdown, a logistics blockade, and an active military conflict with no defined end date.

Where Are Supply Chain Risks Concentrated?

Global helium production totaled approximately 190 million cubic meters in 2025, according to the United States Geological Survey. Supply is dominated by two countries that together account for roughly three quarters of the world output.

Global Helium Production by Country, Cubic Meters

This level of concentration means the loss of either top producer creates a structural shortage that the remaining global base cannot absorb on short notice. There is no OPEC-style spare capacity mechanism for helium. New extraction projects take years to develop, and helium cannot be manufactured synthetically.

U.S. Helium Production

The United States is now the single most important stabilizer of global helium supply. However, U.S. production is itself highly concentrated among a small number of operators and geographies.

Source	Main Operators	Est. Volume (million m³)	% of U.S. Production
LaBarge / Shute Creek, Wyoming	ExxonMobil	34-38	42-47%
Midcontinent / Hugoton Basin (TX, KS, OK)	Air Products, Linde, Messer	16-20	20-25%
New basin projects (NM, CO, KS, MT)	New Era Helium, Blue Star Helium, others	7-10	8-12%
Rocky Mountain fields (CO, UT, WY)	IACX Energy, Air Products, regional operators	6-8	7-10%
Freeport LNG Helium Recovery, Texas	Linde	~5.6	~7%
Canadian helium processed in U.S.	North American Helium, Royal Helium	4-6	5-7%
U.S. Total		~81	100%

Key Observations:

ExxonMobil’s LaBarge/Shute Creek system in Wyoming is the single largest helium source in the world, providing an estimated 20% of global supply with roughly 80 years of reserves remaining.
Messer controls the former Federal Helium Reserve near Amarillo, Texas, including the Cliffside Gas Plant, the Bush Dome storage reservoir, 23 natural gas wells, and a 423-mile crude-helium pipeline. This system, sold by GSA in 2023 under the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013 and acquired by Messer in 2024, is now entirely in private hands for the first time since its establishment in 1925. The Bush Dome reservoir held approximately 4+ Bcf of federally owned helium at the time of disposal. The privatization means the strategic storage buffer that underpinned U.S. helium resilience for decades now operates as a commercial asset, raising questions about stockpiling capacity during a prolonged supply shock.
New domestic projects in Colorado, Montana, and southeast New Mexico are coming online but none approach the scale of the Qatar loss. The most significant future expansion, the Dry Piney project in Wyoming, was approved by the BLM in December 2025 but is not expected to begin commercial operations until summer 2028.
One nuance: The USGS counts Canadian helium purified in the U.S. within the domestic production figure. Approximately 4–6 million m³ of the 81 million m³ total reflects Canadian extraction, meaning the purely domestic share is slightly lower than the headline number suggests.

Supply Chain Impact

How the Iran Conflict is Disrupting Helium Markets

The conflict is impacting helium through three simultaneous channels:

Production shutdown. Ras Laffan is fully offline, removing approximately 5.2 million cubic meters per month from global markets. QatarEnergy has not disclosed whether equipment sustained direct damage from Iranian munitions. If it did, industry consultants estimate recovery could take a year or more.
Maritime blockade. The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed to commercial traffic. Even if production resumed tomorrow, Qatari helium would have no viable sea route to market. This dual production-plus-logistics disruption distinguishes the current crisis from previous helium shortages.
Container bottleneck. Roughly one-third of the world’s cryogenic helium ISO containers are stranded in or around Qatar. Repositioning this equipment after the conflict will require a minimum of three months, creating a supply gap that outlasts the conflict itself. Liquefied helium evaporates within roughly 45 days, meaning stranded inventory cannot be held for later delivery.

Commodity Market Impact

Indicator	Status
Helium spot price	Doubled since crisis onset; European spot at ~$450/Mcf
QatarEnergy contract status	Force majeure declared March 4
Supply offline	~5.2 million m³/month (~33% of global production)
Minimum disruption timeline	3+ months (restart + logistics normalization)
Price impact (30-day outage)	+10–20% on delivered prices
Price impact (60–90 day outage)	+25–50%, concentrated on spot buyers
Supplier surcharges	At least one major supplier has introduced a surcharge

U.S. Helium Demand by End Use

The USGS 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries provides the following demand breakdown for U.S. helium consumption:

Semiconductors

17%

Lifting gas

17%

Welding

Leak detection

MRI / Medical Imaging

15%

Aerospace

Diving

Other

In a shortage, medical imaging, semiconductors, and aerospace are protected first, while lifting gas, diving, and industrial welding absorb the deepest cuts. The key allocation decisions sit with the merchant gas layer (Linde, Air Liquide, Air Products, Messer, Iwatani), which controls distribution of scarce supply across fabs, hospitals, labs, and aerospace customers.

Sectors Most Exposed

Semiconductors: Helium is used in wafer cooling, leak detection, and etching with no viable substitute. South Korea sourced nearly 65% of its helium from Qatar in 2025 and produces roughly two-thirds of global memory chips. Its Ministry of Trade has launched a supply exposure investigation across 14 semiconductor materials. SK hynix reports securing diversified supply; TSMC says it is monitoring but does not anticipate notable impact. Samsung Electronics and GlobalFoundries are also exposed. During allocation events, high-bandwidth memory and AI server DRAM are likely to be prioritized over conventional DDR5, DDR4, and NAND for PCs and smartphones.

Medical imaging: MRI machines require approximately 1,500 liters of liquid helium to operate, and healthcare accounts for roughly 30% of global consumption. Most installed scanners have no alternative cooling method. During shortage scenarios, medical applications are typically allocated supply first.

Aerospace and defense: Helium is essential for rocket propulsion, satellite testing, fuel system pressurization, and cryogenic defense applications. NASA and the U.S. defense sector are among the largest institutional consumers of helium and launch providers such as SpaceX are also heavily dependent.

Quantum computing and research: Cryogenic helium cooling is required for several quantum computing architectures and particle accelerators. Research institutions are typically the first to face rationing due to smaller contracts and lower allocation priority.

Exiger Insights

Exiger’s analysis of helium shipment records (HS 2804.29) since 2025 highlights the depth of Gulf concentration risk underlying this disruption.

Breakdown of Port of Lading Country

(Source: Exiger) ANALYSIS OF PORT OF LADINGS PERTAINING TO HELIUM

Saudi Arabia leads by port of lading shipment count, not because Saudi Arabia produces helium, but because Qatari helium is trucked overland from Ras Laffan through Saudi Arabia to Gulf export ports. When all Gulf lading countries are combined (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Kuwait), they account for over 90% of recorded shipments.

The Hormuz disruption is therefore not just a Qatar production problem; it is cutting off the primary maritime corridor through which most globally traded helium reaches buyers.

Overland alternatives to Jeddah or Salalah exist but are capacity-limited and cannot replicate established routing at scale.

What Organizations Should Do Now

1. Map helium exposure.

Identify direct consumption (fabs, MRI facilities, labs) and embedded exposure in supplier operations. Determine sourcing concentration by supplier, origin, and logistics pathway.

2. Assess contract and allocation risk.

Review supply agreements for force majeure provisions, allocation triggers, and price adjustment clauses. Organizations on spot or short-term contracts face the highest exposure.

3. Evaluate alternative sourcing.

Engage U.S.-based and Canadian producers. Recognize that domestic capacity is heavily utilized and meaningful new supply is not expected before 2028.

4. Prioritize conservation and recovery.

Implement or accelerate helium recycling systems. Facilities with closed-loop recovery infrastructure are significantly more resilient.

5. Stress-test continuity and monitor escalation.

Model 30-, 60-, and 90-day disruption scenarios against production schedules, patient care capacity, and research timelines. Watch for additional force majeure declarations, formal allocation programs from Linde, Air Products, Air Liquide, or Messer, damage assessments from Ras Laffan, and military escalation affecting U.S. or Algerian helium infrastructure.