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14 min ago 3 min read
Russia has the resources and installed capacity to become a much larger global helium supplier, but actual export availability remains uncertain amid the Ukraine war.
That was the update from Maura Garvey, President of Intelligas Consulting, speaking at gasworld’s Helium Super Summit in Houston, who estimated that Russian helium production will reach just over 1.1 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 2026.
She said this is made up of an estimated 900 million cubic feet (mmcf) from the Gazprom-operated Amur Gas Processing Plant, 165 mmcf from the Irkutsk Oil Company (INK) project, and 85 mmcf from the Orenburg complex.
In June, Russia’s integrated Orenburg gas processing and helium complex was targeted in a Ukrainian drone attack. It is currently operating at reduced capacity.
Garvey said the long-term growth centre for the Russian helium industry has clearly shifted East towards Amur.
Despite the nation’s capacity, following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict earlier this year, the Russian government quickly imposed .
Effective until the end of 2027, Russia restricted helium exports outside the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) to require special permission from top officials.
“The disruption that happened in March of this year at Qatar has increased the importance of every available molecule that we can get… So now Russia’s own export controls are now limiting its ability to serve as that replacement supply,” Garvey said.
Russia-China helium relations
In 2025, Russia produced approximately 20 million cubic metres of helium, while domestic consumption totalled around four million cubic metres.
This oversupply led the country to flood non-sanctioned markets such as China. As a result, China started to import more helium than it needs before re-exporting volumes into .
However, in July, China a temporary helium export prohibition.
“[This] could potentially close an important route through which the Russian helium was previously re-exported to third countries,” said Garvey.
Garvey estimated 85 mmcf of helium was re-exported out of China in 2025, and 80 mmcf has been re-exported this year up until August.
She said while Russia’s helium exports to China are currently still flowing, but at lower levels, China’s temporary helium export prohibition aims to preserve imported helium supply for its semiconductor and strategic industries.
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