Upcoming Event: Richard Brook Presents the Five-Year Helium Market Forecast — Houston, October 19–21
Issue No. 8 | September 7, 2026
THE BROOK REPORT
Market intelligence on Helium, Helium-3, & Cryogenic Technology
A weekly report on trends shaping our industry
CURATED NEWS FOR ALL THINGS HELIUM
⭐️ Brook's Pick of the Week
China is moving beyond helium supply diversification toward the construction of a strategic underground helium-storage capability.
Guangzhou Guanggang Gases & Energy and Jiangsu Suyan Jingshen formed Jiangsu Guanggang Gases Jingshen Small Molecule Gas Storage Co. in April 2025, with Guanggang holding 90% and Suyan Jingshen 10%. The companies had signed an agreement in January 2025 specifically to develop a large-scale pure-helium storage facility using a deep underground salt cavern.
The project is in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province. Suyan Jingshen has agreed to provide the JV with the approximately 200,000 m³ ZX60 salt cavern in the Zhangxing mining area. The partners contemplate helium storage, purification, filling, and sales. The project remains in planning/site-selection according to the corporate disclosure, an important distinction from reports describing it as though it were already operational.
Separately, Chinese technical organizations have been developing formal design standards for salt-cavern helium storage. A draft Design Guide for Salt-Cavern Helium Storage passed expert review in January 2026, with Guanggang Gases and Jiangsu Suyan Jingshen among the participating organizations.
Subsequent Chinese reporting describes the planned “Helium Bank” as having a target storage capacity of approximately 45 million standard m³, or about 1.6 Bcf of helium.
China currently depends on imports for the great majority of its helium. An underground reserve of roughly 1.6 Bcf would therefore represent something fundamentally different from simply signing additional supply contracts: China would gain the ability to physically stockpile helium during periods of availability and draw it down during geopolitical or supply disruptions. The project also comes as China is restricting helium exports to protect domestic supply.
QatarEnergy has informed Italian utility Edison that another five LNG cargoes cannot be delivered, extending force majeure from early April through early November 2026. The total has now reached 29 affected cargoes, representing approximately 3.8 billion m³ of natural gas.
The helium implication remains straightforward: restoring production at Ras Laffan does not restore normal helium supply if LNG export logistics remain constrained. Regular LNG transit through Hormuz remains largely halted even as some oil-tanker traffic has resumed.
Helix Exploration has temporarily paused production at its Rudyard, Montana facility following a request from the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation concerning associated-gas handling. Commercial operations began in July and three helium tube-trailer sales had been completed before the pause.
Helix says some procedures have not previously been defined because it is Montana's first helium producer. A regulatory hearing is scheduled for October 15. Meanwhile, the Ollie #1 drilling permit has been granted and drilling is scheduled to begin the week of September 7
Gold Hydrogen's Ramsay 2 test produced air-corrected helium concentrations of up to 20%, closely matching the stabilized 19% previously reported at Ramsay 1 about 500 meters away. More importantly, the company estimates raw-gas production of approximately 128 Mcf/day and helium production of approximately 24 Mcf/day.
Ramsay 3 becomes the next important test of whether this unusual water-associated helium system can scale. No long-term commercial flow rate has yet been demonstrated and the company has not yet booked Contingent Resources.
NANO Nuclear and Howden, a Baker Hughes business, have advanced the primary helium circulator for the KRONOS MMR microreactor from preliminary engineering into detailed design. The circulator moves helium coolant through the reactor to transfer heat generated in the core.
The development is another indication that advanced high-temperature gas reactors could become an emerging helium application. Helium is a closed-loop coolant rather than a continuously consumed fuel, so the relevant demand is primarily initial charge and subsequent makeup.
Every new application for helium draws our attention at THE BROOK REPORT.
Ivan Hetman of Linköping University Hospital reports that his laboratory received an invoice in March for GC-MS-grade helium priced several times higher than its 2022 procurement. The experience illustrates why laboratories are increasingly evaluating hydrogen as an alternative GC carrier gas.
The broader helium-market implication is important: sustained high prices don't simply increase customers' costs. Eventually they encourage conservation, substitution and helium demand destruction.
Japan is moving from ordinary commercial working inventories toward government-supported strategic helium stocks. Supported projects must maintain inventory equivalent to at least one month of annual imports. Iwatani/Iwatani Gas was approved to maintain that level beginning in January 2026 for at least ten years, with maximum government support of approximately ¥1.05 billion ($6.6 million).
Air Water/Japan Helium has a separate approved stockpiling program, bringing maximum government support across the two programs to approximately ¥1.77 billion ($11 million). The important market implication is that strategic stockpiling creates additional physical helium demand even when underlying end-user consumption is unchanged.
LTA Research's 406.5-foot Pathfinder 1 continues expanding its flight-test program with longer-duration and more varied flights. The proof-of-concept rigid airship uses 13 helium bags for lift, with LiDAR continuously measuring the helium volume.
LTA says the Pathfinder program is intended to provide the engineering data for future, larger airships. Commercial deployment remains prospective, but a fleet of large rigid airships would represent an unusual potential transportation application for helium.