Iran war threatens global helium supply

The war in Iran has taken one-third of the world’s helium supply off the market. And if the conflict continues for more than 2 weeks, disruption for helium users could take months to resolve. That was the assessment from a panel of experts assembled by the industrial gas media group Gasworld for a webinar on March 4. The impact on helium supply comes from Iran’s drone and missile attacks on Qatar and its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping channel that connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world by sea. Helium is critical for several scientific and industrial endeavors. As a cryogenic liquid, it cools superconducting magnets in spectrometers, cryostats, and imaging devices. Deep-sea divers use it in breathing mixtures because it doesn’t dissolve easily into blood. And Qatar is home to one of only two plants that produce semiconductor-grade helium, which is ionized and used to etch silicon wafers. The Iran war began on Feb. 28, when the US and Israel collaborated on a wave of airstrikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and several other civilian and military leaders. Iran has retaliated with drone and missile attacks on neighboring countries, including Qatar, the source of roughly one-third of the world’s helium supply. On March 2, state-owned QatarEnergy halted production at Ras Laffan Industrial City, where the firm extracts and liquefies up to 17 metric tons per day of helium as part of its natural gas processing and export operations. Helium often