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Helium shortage8/3/2023 ![]() In addition to the lack of production from Amur, helium supply has been negatively impacted by another extended outage of the CHEU that lasted from mid-January through to mid-June, planned maintenance outages that reduced output from Qatar during the first quarter (Q1), reduced output from Algeria due to the war in Ukraine, and a fire at a natural gas processing plant in Haven, Kansas. ![]() While the helium plant was down, the gas processing plants that provide feedgas to the plant experienced a fire and an explosion that knocked the Amur out of commission for what is expected to be the entirety of 2022. At full capacity, with three trains each running close to their 750 million standard cubic feet (MMSCF) annual capacity, the Amur Project has the potential to increase global helium supply by roughly one-third.Īfter a brief start-up in September 2021, the plant was taken down according to plan to complete construction. While the severity of the shortage probably peaked in the first half of 2022, the shortage has persisted for the last 15 months and there is still a great deal of uncertainty as to when Helium Shortage 4.0 will finally come to an end.Īs most people who follow the helium market know, 2022 was expected to be a year of transition from tight helium supply to ample supply, due to the start of production from Gazprom’s huge Amur Project. However, these technologies are not yet widely available.Helium Shortage 4.0 began on 1st July 2021 when a four-month maintenance outage of the US Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Crude Helium Enrichment Unit (CHEU) removed more than 10% of worldwide capacity from the market. Companies like GE Healthcare and Siemens Healthineers have been in the process of developing equipment that is more efficient and will require less helium. This issue has gained the concern of MRI manufacturers as well. Many research projects at Harvard University were completely shut down due to the shortage, and the University of California, Davis recently shared that one of their suppliers cut their allocations by half, regardless of whether it was used for medical purposes. These moves have not yet translated into the cancellation of imaging exams, but they have delivered some proverbial punches to the science and research community. Much like suppliers involved in the recent iodinated contrast shortage, helium vendors are turning to mitigation strategies that include prioritizing industries with the most vital needs, such as healthcare. supplies approximately 40% of the world’s helium, but four out of five of the country’s major suppliers have begun rationing, Phil Kornbluth, president of Kornbluth Helium Consulting shared with NBC news. All these factors have combined to exacerbate supply chain issues. Until recently, Russia was expected to supply up to one-third of the world’s helium from a huge production facility in Siberia, but a fire at the facility delayed that rollout, and Russia’s war in Ukraine has further soured its trading relationship with the United States. ![]() The war in Ukraine also has had a significant impact on helium availability. But for what reason?Īs with most supply issues that have arisen over the past three years, the pandemic has inevitably left some fingerprints on the supply and distribution of helium. But in recent years the world’s supply of helium has raised heightened concerns, and some suppliers have begun to ration the nonrenewable element.Īlthough this has been going on for a decade or more, the most recent news cycle on the subject appears to have an added sense of urgency. Without it, the scanner s - some of which require up to 10,000 liters to operate during a machine’s lifetime- cannot safely function. Helium is vital for keeping MRI machines cool while they run. Experts in the healthcare space are growing increasingly concerned about the worldwide helium shortage and its resultant impact on the field of magnetic resonance imaging, NBC News recently reported. ![]()
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