Semiconductor Shortage Incoming? Buy Helium Stocks?
A lesser-known beneficiary of the Straight of Hormuz closure: helium producers.
Helium Shortage Inbound?
The closure of the Straight of Hormuz, thanks to the conflict in the Middle East, is choking off significant percentages of the world’s LNG and helium supply.
Morgan Stanley is warning that Taiwan typically only has about 10 days of LNG reserves, they are securing LNG cargos, but if this war is prolonged then the island could face major energy shortages.
Especially considering they have been shutting down nuclear power plants. Taiwan Semiconductor obviously can’t make semis without power.
So this shortage of natural gas supply from the region is hitting the Asian and Middle Eastern countries hardest.
Europe isn’t much better off, in some ways it’s even worse lol.
But everyone knows about the situation on the O&G front already. But there is a second commodity, that’s crucial to the semiconductor industry that is also set to face major shortages if this continues for long. Helium.
Qatar produces around 35% of the world’s helium supply, roughly 2.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) annually from three extraction plants at the Ras Laffan Industrial Hub. They also produces 20% of the world’s LNG supply and 70% of the LNG supply from the region. The helium is produced as a by-product of LNG liquefaction…
So at least a third of the world’s helium supply comes from a single centralized location. Which has been shut down thanks to a drone and ballistic missle strikes on Ras Laffan, along with the blockage of the Straight.
That helium is shipped in specialized ISO containers on vessels that are currently stuck in the Persian Gulf, unable to leave.
Helium is non-substitutable in many critical applications.
It cools the superconducting magnets in MRI machines.
It’s essential for semiconductor manufacturing (cooling silicon wafers and etching processes).
Pressurizes rocket fuel tanks for space programs.
Enables fiber optic cable production.
And most of these applications require an incredibly high concentration of helium, we’re talking over 99.999% purified, several more decimal points out. Which limits supply even further.
The helium market entered 2025 in modest oversupply, with new capacity from Russia’s Amur GPP natural gas plant (that also produces helium), new Canadian facilities, and Linde’s Freeport plant.
These new plants pushed the global supply to ~6.5 Bcf against ~6.0 Bcf demand.
That gets thrown out the window with Qatar offline…
A popular consultant in the helium industry, Phil Kornbluth, has noted that the world simply cannot compensate for losing a third of its helium supply. Other producers like the USA, Algeria, Russia, and emerging Canadian operations… cannot ramp fast enough.
Semiconductor manufacturers have dealt with perpetual shortages of helium throughout the past two decades. This would be the industry’s sixth shortage since 2006… so many producers maintain several months worth of reserves.
The industrial gas giants in the industry like Linde, APD, or Air Liquide can provide a buffer for manufacturers since they have reserves as well, but that won’t last long if Qatar is shut down for an extended period of time…
Investment Angle: Helium Producers
So the question is, how do we benefit from a potential helium shortage, from disruption in the Middle East?
Buy stocks that produce helium in regions like North America. Which is where most of our potential investment options are located.
I will give you a short list of my top 3 investable companies that have already produced helium, or are already in the process of building a plant to produce or refine it.
The exploration business is significantly riskier so I strongly prefer companies that are already producing, or close to producing helium so they can actually take advantage of rising prices.
The benefit of investing in the helium industry is that it operates similarly to oil and gas, it’s the same extraction process.
So, there is already a workforce in place to hire talent from, and it doesn’t take as long to start generating revenue than it does in the mining world.
Helix Exploration
Helix Exploration (HHEXF) is the first stock on our list. Market cap of approximately $95 million USD. They are the first ever helium producer in the state of Montana. Their project in Montana, Rudyard project in Hill County sits on 5,600+ acres along the Sweet Grass Arch in northern Montana.
Helix drilled or acquired 4 production wells, all encountering commercial helium. Around 1% helium grades, which is considered economic.
The company purchased a proven Helium PSA processing plant for just $500,000, the unit had operated continuously from 2015–2022 with 98.5% uptime and 48,000 Mcf/year helium capacity.
It was refurbished and installed at the Rudyard project, with three helium wells already tied to it.
With a helium price of $300 to $500 Mcf that translates to between $14 million and $24 million in revenue. If we see helium prices skyrocket and Qatar helium production stays offline for a few months, or longer… then we could see that revenue figure explode higher. All depends on the geopolitical situation.
The stock has tripled since it listed due to how successful they have been, so recent news has been priced in, but if the conflict gets out of hands they they will be positioned to take advantage of rising prices.
Helix has no offtake agreements in place yet, as they were waiting to produce consistent helium supplies before signing any agreements. But potential distributors have visited the project, so they might have news there soon.
Given their operational results being priced in, this one of the more expensive helium stocks, the only downside I see with this one over a longer time horizon is that they have one of the smallest land packages of all the helium companies. Only around 5,000 acres for this project. Granted, they have some other exploration acreage in other regions.
Avanti Helium
Avanti Helium (ARGYF) is our #2 stock to mention. They have a market cap of $43 million USD. Avanti’s flagship helium asset is the Greater Knappen project, which spans approximately 75,000 acres across Montana and southern Alberta. They also have an additional 63,000 acres of exploration permits in Saskatchewan, totaling over 150,000 acres. All three wells drilled so far have encountered helium.
Two of the 3 wells were around 1.1% helium grade, and the third well was 0.41%, so the third well wasn’t as good.
But the second well they drilled, WNG 10-21. is considered one of the most prolific helium wells drilled in the last few decades in North America. Namely because of the incredible flow rate of helium.
The well was flowing over 20 million standard cubic feet per day. For reference, Helix’s wells are flowing around 2-3 million cubic feet per day. So, Avanti’s assets seem promising so far. Granted it isn’t very many wells yet.
In terms of processing the helium, Avanti has signed a definitive agreement to relocate an operational processing plant for $1.25 million. Similar to what Helix did with buying an existing plant instead of building one from scratch. The plant has existing capacity to process 100 Mcf per day of helium, with potential to upgrade to 150 Mcf per day later on.
The purity the helium is being refined to can also be upgraded. They are targeting their first helium sales, once the processing plant is reestablished at their project in mid-2026.
Avanti has signed a binding 3-year take-or-pay offtake agreement, which was finalized in August 2025, with an unnamed “leading global supplier of industrial gases.” And that is for 33% of the processing plant’s output. At least a majority of their supply is not contracted yet so it can be sold in spot sales for higher prices if the Middle East situation devolves further.
Overall, Avanti is a bit riskier than Helix since something could go wrong with establishing helium production and processing, but that also leads to greater reward if everything goes well and success isn’t priced in like it is for Helix. Either way, I think both Avanti and Helix are in similar situations from a fundamentals perspective.
But they are the best pure-play investment options that will be ready to take advantage of incoming price increases, in my opinion. Now, this is without me having had the time to research aspects like the management teams of these companies. Just going off of fundamentals, these seem to be the best two from what I’m seeing. Again, don’t take that as financial advice and make your own decisions. Do your own research.
Blue Star Helium
Now, our third stock of interest is Blue Star Helium (BSNLF). With a market cap of $27 million USD. Blue Star is a helium explorer and producer, focused on developing the Galactica-Pegasus project in southern Colorado.
The company holds approximately 312,000 gross acres of helium and CO₂ prospective acreage. Blue Star discovered the Galactica-Pegasus field in 2022 with four consecutive exploration wells returning helium concentrations as high as 6.06% at Galactica and 8.8% at the nearby Voyager prospect…. these are among the highest primary helium grades in the United States.
The company farmed out 50% of Galactica-Pegasus to Helium One, another public helium explorer. So the project is now a 50/50 JV with Helium One. Blue Star received US$1.5 million in cash plus ~US$2.7 million in free-carry development well funding, while retaining the operator role.
Blue Star and Helium One drilled seven-wells in the first half of 2025, with wells at a helium grade of 0.41% to 2.17%. The gas composition in the wells has been predominantly helium, carbon dioxide, and some nitrogen. The carbon dioxide can be processed as well and provides a secondary revenue stream that other peers don’t have.
The Pinon Canyon processing plant, designed and partially operated by Cimarron Midstream, achieved first refined helium in December 2025 and commenced fully integrated operations in March 2026. Four wells are currently producing into the plant, with two more awaiting tie-in.
CO₂ liquefaction and sales are targeted before the end of H1 2026, with merchant CO₂ pricing of $150–600 per ton representing a meaningful additional revenue stream. No binding long-term contracts have been signed yet, with negotiations ongoing for a variety of helium and carbon dioxide buyers.
Beyond the Galactica project, Blue Star holds an option on the Great Plains Field where the historical Bubba State-3 well flowed at 740 Mcf/d with 2.01% helium (better flow rate and grade than Galactica), so they have other promising exploration targets. The full Galactica development plan envisions 15+ total wells.
I consider Blue Star the worst of the three, while still promising, because they had to give away half ownership of their asset, and they have had declining helium grades feeding into their development asset.
What About Other Options?
People might see this post, and if they know some of the other companies in this industry, they may ask… why not ASP Isotopes, why not Pulsar Helium, and so on. ASP is not a pure-play helium company, their real substantial helium production would come from Phase 2 of their project, that isn’t going to be done for at least 4 years, and their management team has perpetually promised results that have not materialized. I think there are better optons for helium exposure.
In regards to Pulsar Helium or some of the other exploration options, I think the best, relatively sure-bets to actually take advantage of the price increases from volatility in the Middle East… will be existing producers. And Pulsar is likely around 2 years out from being able to produce any helium, if not longer. It could be interesting to watch, but doesn’t seem like the best buy right now.
I’m personally looking for already producing assets, outside of geopolitically dicey regions, with strong helium grades, hopefully prudent management teams. If a company has all that then they are already in a far stronger position than most companies you could look at in the commodities sector as a whole. If I end up buying one or multiple of these stocks, I will probably make a separate post talking about that. But for now I don’t own any of these companies. And I am going to continue watching how events unfold in the Middle East as that will decide how well these stocks perform…
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this video constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Green Investing to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in any jurisdiction.
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P.S: None of these companies paid me or anything like that, I’m just providing some thoughts on some of the names I think might be the best… so others can research further if they like.