Qatari LNG shutdown puts 11% of global helium supply at risk

• Ras Laffan remains offline
• Helium extracted in LNG processing
• Logistics headache and rising prices

Qatar’s Ras Laffan shutdown could wipe out more than a tenth of global helium supply this year, a leading industry expert has said.

The complex – the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) export hub – remains offline after Iranian missile strikes on March 19, halting the processing that produces helium as a byproduct.

Helium is used in semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace and medical imaging, making it critical to global technology and healthcare supply chains.

“There is no helium being produced if LNG production is shut,” said Anish Kapadia, founder of consultancy AKAP Energy.

Around 30 percent of Qatar’s helium volumes could be lost in 2026, equivalent to about 11 percent of global supply, he said.

Ras Laffan sits alongside a vast offshore gas reservoir straddling the Iran-Qatar maritime border.

Helium is extracted during LNG processing, meaning output stops entirely when plants are offline. 

State-owned QatarEnergy said after the attack that it might have to declare force majeure on contracts for up to five years.

The mechanism allows parties to suspend or terminate contractual obligations in exceptional circumstances.

“We have heard that certain end users have already received force majeure letters and some industrial gas companies are imposing helium surcharges,” Kapadia said.

Airgas, a US distributor of packaged gases, has reportedly declared force majeure on helium shipments 

Creative Commons/Wikimedia/Matthew Smith

Mohammad Ahmad, chief executive of supply chain intelligence platform Z2Data, said the disruption is becoming a logistics headache as well as a production shock.

Around 200 specialised containers used to transport liquid helium are currently stuck in Qatar with no clear route out, he said. The containers can store helium in liquid form for 35 to 48 days.

“If this bottleneck persists for too long, significant quantities of helium could be permanently lost,” Ahmad said.

He added that the risks are rising for semiconductor manufacturers, which rely on helium for cooling and purging during production.

“The risks of a full-fledged helium shortage hitting the global semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem increases with each passing day,” he said.

South Korea and Taiwan are among the most exposed because they rely heavily on Qatari supply, while Japan is less vulnerable due to greater sourcing from the US, Ahmad said.

The chip sector is better prepared than during previous shortages, Ahmad said, having built larger inventories and improved recycling systems since the pandemic.

“Chipmakers may be more insulated from this helium shortage now than they would have been five or six years ago,” he said. 

Kapadia noted that the rest of production at Ras Laffan is not offline due to damage, but because Doha is waiting for tensions to ease and the Strait of Hormuz to reopen.

QatarEnergy’s chief executive Saad al-Kaabi has said: “For production to restart, first we need hostilities to cease.”

Ras Laffan was targeted after Israeli strikes hit Iran’s neighbouring South Pars gas field, which shares the same offshore basin.

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In downstream sectors, Kapadia said Seagate and Western Digital, two of the world’s largest producers of helium-filled hard drives, “have already allocated production for 2026, with price increases already implemented”.

Asked about the potential for overland exports via Saudi Arabia, Kapadia said there was little scope to reroute supply.

“There is no helium being produced that you can truck anyway, unless there are small amounts of inventory,” he said.

Spot pricing is opaque due to the private nature of contracts, but Kapadia said price increases are already being felt.

The loss of Qatari supply is unlikely to be quickly offset.

Kapadia, who advises investors and companies on global helium and LNG markets, added: “The only feasible sizeable replacement for Qatar is Russia,” adding that US and European sanctions are limiting its ability to expand exports.