This month we provide our yearly review of helium, a topic in the forefront of the news. A lot has happened in the past year including a decline in helium demand in 2009 due to the recession. In January 2010, the National Research Council (NRC) published a report, “Selling the Nation’s Helium Reserve,”
(see review on p. 28) and in August helium markets felt the first effect of the study recommendations with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) price for open market crude helium moving from $64.75 to $75/Mcf for FY2011.
The so called “in-kind” crude price, for federal research consumers, was left unchanged. The BLM provides the rationale for the open market and in-kind crude price changes in this issue on p. 32.
For industrial gas companies, managing their helium business is difficult since it is fraught with uncertainties relating to the timing of future supply sources, the partial recovery of market demand, and the future role of BLM’s crude reserve in the US. In preparing this report, CryoGas International had discussions with some of the major industrial gas companies to get their opinions on the NRC committee recommendations, and helium supply and demand in the face of the changing global economy and its related helium markets.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
