Helium Supply-Chain Failure Worries Hospitals, Crime Labs, Welders, and Even Balloon Retailers By Greg Byrnes
The United States is beginning the third year of a helium supply-chain crisis. Some experts think it will last until at least 2024. Consumers may have noticed some party retailers going out of business, with helium prices in a few markets almost doubling. A Texas retailer reports tanks went from $195 to $365, and they can only get half tanks because of shortages. The Party City chain, where balloons were a key profit center, has filed for bankruptcy.
But helium shortages mean more than fewer fun diversions like blimps, party balloons, or Daffy Duck floating down Broadway.
Last year the Miami-Dade Police crime lab and the Medical Examiner’s Office had to pay $1,800 per tank for helium to run instruments to identify deadly drugs and complete autopsy blood tests. Helium is used by semiconductor manufacturers and welders, and of critical importance, it is used to cool MRI machines in hospitals.
Without a reliable supply of helium in medical care, the public may face hard choices: rationing, sky-high pricing, or limiting tests patients can get. All could be on the horizon. This may not represent a complete regression to third-world medical care, but the supply chain failure is not without consequences for public health and safety. That this is happening in one of the most natural resource-rich countries in the world is more than strange. If one consequence of Biden’s green energy policy is the collapse of this vital supply chain, what can Congress do to reverse course?
The U.S. is one of the world’s largest sources of helium, but with supply not meeting demand, prices are skyrocketing. Helium is captured as a byproduct of natural gas drilling, which has been targeted by the Biden administration as part of its war on fossil fuels. Currently, the United State’s helium reserve is in Amarillo, Texas, a state replete with natural gas.
“The price of helium has risen to the point where it can be economically viable to explore for that gas and drill for that gas, just for the helium,” according to Phil Kornbluth, an industry expert.
Related: Biden to End Natural Gas Use in Federal Buildings
Many research labs say they can only obtain a third of the helium they need. Can exploration and development open the way for new helium discoveries? Drill baby drill has worked in the past, after all.
While some point to the war in Ukraine as a strain on world output, the U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. The rest of the world need not control domestic output.
This is the third helium supply-chain crunch since 2000. Some call it “helium shortage 4.0.” Will this be the last time we are short of this vital natural resource in this decade? Can the free market rescue us from this “green market” collapse? If Washington helped create the problem, it can help fix it.
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