By now, everyone who has at least a passing interest in the helium business is aware that the Saudi Arabian-led embargo of Qatar resulted in the temporary cut-off of the supply of Qatari helium to world markets.
On the political level, there has been little apparent progress toward ending the blockade introduced by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain on 5th June (2017). Among a veritable charge sheet of issues raised against the country, Qatar is accused of destabilising the region by supporting extremism and terrorism – all of which it denies.
Just over a fortnight into the saga and on 23rd June the Saudi’s presented a list of 13 demands that Qatar would need to meet before the embargo would be lifted – and gave Qatar just 10 days to comply. Given the severity of the demands, there is little reason to believe that Qatar would comply and perhaps unsurprisingly, that initial deadline passed without progress. Qatar was understood to have responded formally, but no details were released; it has stated its belief that the demands break international law.
Qatar was then given an extra 48 hours to accept this list of demands or face further sanctions. That deadline, too, passed without action. At least for the time being, this diplomatic crisis continues to be in a state of stalemate.
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