Breaking news: Latest information from Qatar is that helium production has been reduced to around 25 MMcf/month over Hormuz transit safety issues
Issue No. 7 | August 31, 2026
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China remains heavily dependent on imported helium but is rapidly expanding domestic recovery capacity as semiconductor, aerospace, and medical demand grows.
According to DIGITIMES, China consumed approximately 1,364 MMcf of helium in 2025, of which approximately 1,152 MMcf was imported, representing 84.4% of total consumption. Qatar supplied 54% of China's imports and Russia another 44%, meaning the two countries accounted for approximately 98% of China's imported helium supply.
China is responding by rapidly expanding domestic production. According to DIGITIMES, Chinese helium production capacity reached approximately 530 MMcf/year by the end of 2025, more than ten times its 2020 level. An additional 777+ MMcf/year of capacity is reportedly under construction or planned.
Source: DIGITIMES — “China reshapes helium supply chain as semiconductor demand rises, import risks persist” (subscription/paywall)
China isn't simply reacting to the latest helium shortage. It is structurally redesigning its helium supply chain through Russian sourcing, domestic helium production, purification and liquefaction, and supplier diversification.
With Chinese helium demand expected to grow about 5–7% annually, expanding domestic supply capacity could materially change global helium trade flows over the next several years.
Qatar’s LNG exports have reportedly fallen 96%, reinforcing expectations that associated helium production and exports will remain constrained despite efforts to restore plant operations.
China successfully tested its helium-filled S4000 airborne wind-energy system at 4,000 meters, demonstrating a potentially significant new large-scale application for helium. We've been watching this story for a while. If someone can make the math work, this might lead to a big new application for helium.
Energy & Capital Managing Editor Keith Kohl reports that helium spot prices doubled after the Qatar disruption and links the rise to price increases of up to 30% for helium-filled hard drives.
But a helium-filled hard drive contains only about 0.03 cubic feet of helium. At $1,000/Mcf, that's just three cents of helium per drive. Even if helium prices doubled to $2,000/Mcf, the additional manufacturing cost would be only three cents per drive.
Helium shortages can certainly interrupt hard-drive production and drive prices higher through lost supply. But the cost of the helium itself cannot plausibly explain a 30% increase in hard-drive prices.
Share Talk highlights Pulsar Helium's reported 11.2–11.9 ppb helium-3 concentration at its Topaz project and suggests terrestrial discoveries could provide a new scalable source of this scarce isotope.
But consider the math. Assume that Topaz eventually becomes a very large helium producer, producing 100 MMcf of helium annually. At approximately 12 ppb He-3, that entire annual production would contain only about 425 liters of helium-3.
At $2,500/liter, the gross value of all that helium-3 would be only about $1.06 million per year.
And that's before the difficult and expensive part: separating He-3 from He-4 at a concentration of roughly 12 parts per billion.
The presence of helium-3 at Topaz is scientifically interesting. But detecting helium-3 is very different from demonstrating an economically recoverable helium-3 resource.
Finding helium-3 is not the same thing as having a helium-3 business.
Researchers writing in Nature's Scientific Reports modeled how methane could help mobilize helium dissolved in formation water in deep tight-sandstone reservoirs. Their simulations suggest methane flow can increase gas-water contact and strip helium into the producible gas phase, potentially providing another mechanism for recovering helium that might otherwise remain trapped in reservoir water.
Interlune successfully implanted and extracted helium-4 from simulated lunar regolith, creating material that more realistically reproduces solar-wind implantation on the Moon. The process gives Interlune a terrestrial test bed for developing equipment ultimately intended to extract helium-3 and other resources from lunar soil.
Editor's Note: I suggest Interlune is fully on track for commercial production by 2275 (not a typo).
Helium Evolution completed a C$25 million private placement, including C$23.7 million from new international investors, to fund future drilling, infrastructure, and continued development of its southern Saskatchewan helium assets.