The 2026 worldwide helium market

The global helium market entered 2026 expecting oversupply to persist as new production capacity continued to come online. However, the market dynamic shifted in March when the US-Israeli war on Iran eventually led to disruption in Qatar, increased logistical constraints, and changing trade policies in Russia and China. The global supply-demand balance was upended once again, resulting in regionally uneven market tightness. These developments demonstrated that additional capacity does not necessarily translate into reliable supply, particularly in the absence of sourcing diversity.

The disruption in Qatar stemmed from attacks on the country’s critical Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex following the outbreak of the war on February 28, when US and Israeli forces launched joint airstrikes against Iranian military infrastructure and leadership. Iran subsequently attacked Qatar’s critical Ras Laffan on March 2 and again on March 18 and March 19, purportedly in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on Iranian gas fields and to pressure Gulf nations to push Washington and Israel into ending the war. The attacks caused sustained damage to two South LNG trains, each of which supplies feed gas to the Qatar 1 and Qatar 2 helium plants, respectively. The resulting disruption represents a loss of 16% of helium production capacity until the LNG trains are repaired. QatarEnergy has stated that the repairs could take three to four years at the two helium plants.