Why There Is A Helium Shortage

What do balloons, MRIs and rockets all have in common? They all rely on helium - and the global market for the noble gas has been deflating for years.
Helium is the second-most abundant element in the known universe, but it’s hard to capture on Earth because of how easily it floats out of the atmosphere and into space.
Oil companies harvest helium trapped deep beneath the Earth’s surface, in natural gas chambers. Radioactive decay causes uranium rock to disperse helium into natural gas chambers over millions of years. It’s a slow process, and finding the helium can be even more challenging.
Almost every known helium reserve on the planet was discovered by accident, and the helium was merely a byproduct of natural gas harvesting.
The United States has been the largest producer of helium since 1925, thanks to a massive reserve found across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas - fittingly named the Federal Helium Reserve. But that’s set to close down production in 2021, and scientists are looking for new reserves to replace it.
CORRECTION: At 3:26, the video incorrectly shows the national flag of Bahrain, not Qatar.
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Why There Is A Helium Shortage

[@carlosdeleon8527]

My chemistry teacher told us that helium was running out back in 2012, its crazy to see how that man is always correct. Mr Candee if you're seeing this, you're the best.

[@rizalahmad7077]

Good for you remembering what he said even tho its been 7 years.

[@JanBruunAndersen]

There is no helium shortage, only a shortage of cheap helium.

[@sanjarsocool]

Mr.Candee sounds like a clown with no disrespect to me.Candee

[@kkk2.077]

Because it was in news at that time , so he tell this to you

[@cookiemon87]

We're not running out. It's total BS like when they say oil shortage....it's all price manipulation

[@jyotikkhatri4109]

get rid of those party balloons man!

[@blueweb00]

Ban helium-filled balloons

[@alphaapple1375]

Agreed.

[@deanjameson5916]

I mean we could use hydrogen

[@ahsansiddiqui9427]

Deam Jack hydrogen is unsafe because of its flammability

[@deanjameson5916]

@@ahsansiddiqui9427 yea I know but is everywhere and we will probably never run out of it

[@MrAnderson234]

CNBC, you should cover how Philips healthcare is the only company with a low helium superconducting MRI. All vendors use about 1,500 to 1,800 liters and now Philips can make an MRI with only 7 liters of helium

[@hoihoi12250]

Woah wtf

[@MrAnderson234]

21,000% efficiency increase

[@whut9245]

Yes but they just use more liquid nitrogen instead which is many times more inefficient per kg and therefore raises energy costs by a ton. So no this is not a breakthrough

[@MrAnderson234]

@@whut9245 not even remotely true. Liquid nitrogen is done for in MRI for a helium substitute. I'm an expert at company

[@constance1750]

I agree. But #NotSponsored by Phillips hehe

[@TNTExplodesLOL]

I don't give a sh*t for the balloons but the Internet and mri is important.

[@JoyCh155]

@mr fantastic the internet is a resource to freely distribute information

[@jacksparrow-kj2qq]

mr fantastic 2:12

[@alvinlukas02]

@mr fantastic fiber optics

[@TNTExplodesLOL]

@mr fantastic Yes I think we could live without it but there are consequences like a lot of lost jobs and honestly now the world is so reliant on the Internet that it will be a big blow for a year or years.

[@TNTExplodesLOL]

@mr fantastic Ya I understand what you're saying.

[@Larry]

I'm slightly disappointed that for a man who has been in the helium business for over 40 years, Phil Kornbluth doesn't have an incredibly high pitched voice :(

[@Shadamyfan-rs8xc]

I didn't expect to find you here.

[@resetmyzen1585]

😅😂🤣

[@laviefu0630]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4itdY2geb1macU

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Alvin and the chipmunks used all of it

[@SG003]

I saw you on China uncensored

[@PlatinumCRV]

I saw you in the vid for Hong Kong Protest

[@colgatetoothpaste920]

Stupid chipmunks

[@MitchellTheMitch]

I saw you at the tiananmen square massacre

[@jackyzhu9761]

Nope, but the voice actors used audio pitch editing software, which runs on computers that indirectly need helium, so you’re partially right. (I’m joking)

[@Linst654]

That obnoxious music that sounds like a phone alarm made it hard to listen to the guys talk

[@jennluiz8553]

Turn on captions!

[@davidtran1360]

Then you are too easily distracted.

[@sanjarsocool]

That was the best part of the video

[@AuxiliaryPanther]

@@meagangrissom9101 the deaf.

[@brysoncherry9884]

Seriously why does everything need bgm.

[@caseserket1407]

GET RID OF THE FLYING BALLOONS AT THE MACYS THANKS GIVING DAY PARADE! THATS THE BIGGEST CONSUMER/RELEASER OF HELIUM GAS!!!!

[@macdaddy5796]

Case Serket and nascar please...

[@n3gi_]

Helium should be banned to use in party balloons. Internet and MRI should be given priority.

[@aliasrehbar9693]

Can't do that it's not inline with free trade

[@GlobalGaming101]

We could implement a tax on wasteful use of helium. Maybe making balloons 500% more expensive will sway the market.

[@MattSezer]

@@aliasrehbar9693 Exactly, that's the point! If it were left to the free market, this limited resource would be used on frivolous party supplies rather than helping to detect cancer and saving lives. That's why you need intervention and a ban.

[@dangda-ww7de]

make them use co2 instead. lol

[@77xyu94]

@@dangda-ww7de CO2 chemical properties isnt same as helium,and CO2 may cannot make it

[@thatredmanguy]

So your telling me that helium, the second most abundant element in the known universe, is on a shortage on Planet Earth. Strange times.

[@guy_5108]

Yes that is what he said in the video.

[@dinhhaduong1511]

Because helium is so light that it escape the atmosphere, only planet that have Helium in abundance is Jupiter with its high gravity.

[@randomcharacter6501]

The shortage has nothing to do with politics. Helium doesn't react with anything so there's few compounds it can be extracted from. It's difficult to store and it's lighter than air so it drifts to space. The sun fuses hydrogen into helium so if they ever figure out nuclear fusion we'll have more than enough.

[@JanBruunAndersen]

There is no helium shortage, only a shortage of cheap helium.

[@abdullahsoboh6922]

Pavor o

[@iankrasnow5383]

As others have said, there is no helium shortage, only a shortage of cheap helium. The atmosphere has 5 parts per million helium by volume at sea level. It's about a third as abundant as Neon, and neon isn't expensive. If we run out of helium reserves, we'll have to start getting it from the atmosphere with fractional distillation and the price will go up a lot.

[@ethan60645]

CNBC: we’re running out of helium Also CNBC: let’s fill up a bunch of balloons with helium for b roll

[@Curiouslynikki]

orange224 lmfaooo

[@LeotheCat]

It’s called stock footage

[@ethan60645]

Leo the Cat they didn’t credit anything in the description so it’s original footage or they’re bad at being a news organization

[@johnpro318]

orange224 at the end of the video it credits Getty Images

[@alexwhitton1]

_stock footage_

[@houchi69]

Good. Balloons are freaking stupid and terrible for the environment anyway.

[@zammyz1]

houchi69 Helium is how youre able to comment on this video right now lol

[@katrina6984]

@@zammyz1 re-read their comment please.

[@asaelcordero962]

Katrina Ubalde r/woosh

[@jhlords2]

Yes

[@ChrisInvests]

It'd be nice if people stop having parades and letting hundreds of them go on purpose

[@chowderheadify]

It always confuses me why we sell helium for consumer use if its so rare.

[@hobomike6935]

soon everything will be commoditized, even heat, air, and water

[@RealMysticalMan]

@@hobomike6935 water and heat already. Need air? Go outside.

[@mind-of-neo]

Idk, because we should be able to get it anyway?

[@ShakespeareCafe]

What they failed to mention is that most helium was captured when new oil deposits were found and since the number of new oil discoveries is declining it causes a resultant loss of new helium deposits. We can't frack our way out of Peak Oil.

[@lijie6431]

Yes we can!

[@baldlondon6119]

The video actually did address this point

[@fredrickhinojosa4568]

Hydrogen has one electron Helium has two we take a electron from Hydrogen the water on the EARTH and we make Helium it takes about two seconds !whoever said we are running out of helium is a liar !

[@Vlican]

Wasting such a precious non-renewable resource like helium on stupid party balloons... Futures humans will be looking back at us for this....

[@sharpmoneybet]

I thought the person at party city was lying!! I was wrong

[@JoshWitte]

GO BACK TO PARTY CITY WHERE YOU BELONG

[@serene-illusion]

This whole time I wondered how helium was extracted. Since it's straight up a noble gas, I assumed people somehow isolated it from the atmosphere and it is collected. Didn't think it'd be a finite resource that's extracted from age-old reserves.

[@ev-0163]

Nice pfp

[@whatsgoingon07]

I like how they pronounce Qatar as ‘cutter’

[@joshual.7082]

That's the correct pronunciation of it. (At least close enough for most purposes)

[@saifalameri2025]

@@joshual.7082 Nope

[@jacobhasagun8402]

I dont

[@bobchristopher6928]

Ok Joshua, enlighten us to your “correct” pronunciation. Hmm? In my business career I spent a total of 12 years in Saudi. Every Arab from all of the Gulf states pronounces it “cutter” with a slight emphasis on the second syllable.

[@bobchristopher6928]

Sorry that comment was directed to the bloke who calls himself S4. He didn’t offer up his “correct” pronunciation. He just said “nope”. Come on S4, enlighten us all.

[@ABHIJITHVIVEK]

Says Qatar and shows the flag of Bahrain, Qatar's flag is similar in design but maroonish in colour. Not red

[@gale_poot]

They already mention this mistake in the description !!!!

[@ankitpatel468]

They say cutter 😭

[@blusky109]

Who cares ?

[@AMANSHARMA-xw8qi]

Oh.... So that's where the helium comes from.😅😅

[@jhlords2]

Lol lmao

[@macdaddy5796]

Not for long...

[@crimsoncoin1461]

Helium shortage, who knew it suffered A deflation

[@OlaftheGreat]

Nice

[@mishaeldank9974]

Helium:Exists Humans :breathing intensifies

[@Chuwie]

it's because I'm inhaling *HIGH PITCH NOISES*

[@hi_im_angelatrainor]

Chuwie and a uranium byproduct

[@marah7275]

I've known this since I was little. I refused to buy balloons. My family loves parties and buy about 30 balloons for a party, so thats 16 parties a year. Not including graduations, anniversaries, baby showers, etc.

[@chantel4904]

We dont need party balloons. They just end up in the ocean

[@rob1248996]

Choking whales.

[@chantel4904]

@@rob1248996 yes, get rid of all balloons!

[@rob1248996]

@@chantel4904 Problem solved. Besides clowns use them and everyone knows that clowns are evil.

[@chm2]

Time to start using hydrogen for those party balloons. Explosively fun times!

[@Wisconsin.pikachu]

Was wondering why our local dollar tree has been out of helium for weeks

[@aaronstone6183]

**Helium** was never in abundance at the first place..

[@thegabrielleclub555]

balloons are so problematic. like they don’t biodegrade and they’re using up helium. for what? a pARtY?

[@noah5323]

Who said they don’t degrade?

[@thegabrielleclub555]

Cam& Magic who says they do

[@lukeasarts9788]

Depends on the balloon manufacturer.

[@thegabrielleclub555]

LukeAsArts sure but the MAJORITY of them don’t and even if they do, they’re still using helium if you buy them already blown up

[@noah5323]

gabrielle smith they do. Everything does eventually different plastics and rubbers can take a lot of Time but they do degrade

[@thedoublechamp9319]

Wow that explains all the signs at the dollar store saying that they are out of helium🤔

[@danv.2695]

It won't be a problem if were able to establish nuclear fusion

[@shayararar1951]

Captain here: The real reason why there're still party balloons is because. first: the margins are very good compared to selling to MRI scanners, second, we don't have the technology (yet) to make all the helium liquefied, there's always a "rest" product that cannot be converted to liquefied form, and that is sold as balloon helium.

[@TucsonDude]

That makes no sense. We can liquify helium. It's triple point is so low that we can't contain it for any period of time in non-cryogenic storage.

[@shoo682]

@@TucsonDude you need a liquefier for that, and that have high investment cost. You cannot really liquefy and store it, it will eventually vaporize and you will have the same problem again. To liquify is very costly, customers are not willing to pay that amount. Critical industries get their helium so they do not need to worry about this

[@TucsonDude]

@@shoo682 I used to work at the Excel helium refinery in Amarillo, TX. We sold both liquified and highly compressed (~2000psi). To achieve a liquid state requires multiple interations thru a Jules-Thompson effect orifice if I remember correctly. You are correct that helium cannot be stored at room temperature regardless of pressure and must be stored in cryogenic Dewars which are still just temp storage.

[@BvousBrainSystems]

I like how at 0:15 the CNBC article is the only one without a pun in the headline

[@veereshsangolliV12]

Makes a video of why helium is running out, wastes helium in the video Helium: am I a joke to you?

[@Astraeus..]

Helium is similar to gold; it has a lot of really valuable, practical, beneficial applications but the industry is absolutely dominated by the frivolous idiot uses we can come up with for it, and that either destroys the supply or has the price skyrocket.

[@barneystn7521]

Ban party usage of Helium. Problem solved.

[@alextogo8367]

Kids won't like it

[@barneystn7521]

@@alextogo8367Best thing about Kids, they are programmable. Whatever is tough to them as being cool, they'll like.

[@bcubed72]

@@barneystn7521 Yeah, that's ehat Uncle Ernie said. But I still don't like playing the "choo-choo goes into the tunnel" game. At the very least, lemme be the choo-choo for once, Ernie!

[@Sodium_Chloride_And_Sucrose]

I think party balloons can be just as fun or even more fun without helium. You can play ballon volleyball, keep off the ground, hot potato, or if it's a hot day water balloon fight with them ! with them. Plus you can reuse them a couple times if you tie them up correctly with a little rubber band or string. Also bonus if it's not a windy day your favorite balloon won't fly away.

[@lantzevongkorad4084]

i guess you can also fill the balloons with hydrogen, and explode the balloons.

[@drdewott9154]

Wait America still uses Helium for their balloons?!

[@BD-cm7xc]

I am pretty sure Walter White could invented a way to manufacture helium if he was alive!

[@trdjody]

Hey NY, STOP having the Macys day parade.

[@ShainAndrews]

They will just rename it when Macy's finally folds.

[@Richardgg94]

That’s hot air balloons

[@ShainAndrews]

@@Richardgg94 Negative.

[@Richardgg94]

That’s steam

[@d2rpnoy909]

My local Dollar Tree ran out of Helium and hasn't had any for a while now :(

[@SuperCoalBlox]

Rod A omfg same

[@jostsomuan8012]

Why do I have the feeling going that this video is not trying to I form me about anything but instead is trying to convince us to buy more of it?

[@hbarudi]

To get more Helium, we need to continue the research on fusion energy whose byproduct is helium.

[@TheTaXoro]

The amount of helium produced by fusion is INCREDIBLY small. That's one of the main benefits of fusion, it's incredibly energy dense, so you don't need that much hydrogen to get a massive fuckton of energy, thus you don't create much helium in the process. Never the less, hell yes we should actually start investing in research on fusion energy. The funds for the research is incredibly low.

[@daneshmistry6567]

You used the flag of Bahrain for showing Qatar

[@sunrazor2622]

Forget party balloons! I can't party with the stuff that someone's life may depend on.

[@MS-37]

I never thought helium came from the ground. I’m shocked. Bizarre

[@LargeKhoiFish]

"silly humans, using such a powerful element for balloons" -Ultron

[@sunariotenorio7343]

Jlo was complaining about not having enough Helium for her balloons lmao . Thanks Jlo , you thought me something

[@djderie]

it's not fair, just tell space to give our helium back

[@CarsSupercars]

You can mix limestone in water to produce similar gas.

[@lgarcia2071]

Its call acetylene and it's very flammable

[@shawnjohnson901]

Wait did he just say something about internet I CANT LOSE MY ONLY FRIEND

[@GamingEzity]

2020 Nobody talks about helium

[@6500s1]

before even watching this: just make fusion reactors.

[@77Avadon77]

It's not running out at all it's just being incredibly mismanaged

[@CVerse]

Watching Smiling Friends has gotten me searching for these videos now

[@kevinavila9489]

The world is running out of helium. 0:48 - wastes helium

[@stanleybowman-hood6194]

Company’s getting to gas giants: guys lying on money

[@edwinkaris9602]

currently it has affected supply of Fiber optics cable today 29/7/2022,, 4 days ago there is a report of shortage of fiber which has delayed fiber rollout projects for telecom companies such as Openreach BT,...

[@liamduplessis7956]

Good thing they found the largest concentration of helium in South Africa

[@Eventwow]

1:44 sounds like the head man in charge of hawkings labs in stranger things season 2.

[@janchristophertan9880]

Party balloons are just a waste of helium. Change my mind

[@josephhernandez1608]

I live in the four corners and we don't want helium extraction to continue.

[@ballongeventbyra1260]

This has some facts but some major errors. The national reserve is a holding place for helium, not a natural supply. They can actually pump helium into the reserve for storage. Here are some more details MRI machines use liquid helium. Liquid helium has a low boil point and quite a bit of it boils off during transfer. The helium that boils off in the process is often captured and sold as balloon/lifting gas. Yes, it is possible to refine this captured gas and re-liquefy it for use in MRI machines, but the cost of this is so high, that they would take a financial loss to do this. Instead, they sell it for balloons, airships, weather balloons and the like. Also, helium is not as finite of a resource as you may have been led to believe. We have a production shortage, not a supply shortage. Helium is found alongside natural gas and has historically been primarily sourced as a by-product of natural gas refining along with a few accidental pure heliums finds as well. Matter of fact there are some natural gas producers who do not find it economically worthwhile to capture and sale it, so they just release it into the atmosphere. Also according to John Hamak at the Bureau of Land Management whom I contacted on this, party/decor balloons account for less than 1 percent of all helium usage. The other thing is that Helium is actually constantly being created, albeit slowly from the radioactive decay of elements such as uranium. This gas slowly raises up to the surface and gets trapped in pockets. The crazy thing is, up until only a few years ago, no one actually looked to find these pockets, we have only been using byproduct helium. But a few people and companies started to look for helium and found a massive supply in Tanzania (here www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-07/tanzania-helium-find-may-be-double-first-estimate-explorer-says) and now another one in Tibet. (and here www.minagao.com/2018/05/10/the-discovery-of-helium-rich-hot-springs-in-the-ali-area-of-tibet-china) So eventually all the easy access Helium may be gone, just as oil is. However, since helium is a product of radioactive decay there are some hopes that it may be possible to generate it from the fusion reactors that are being researched at the moment. No guarantees on that front, however. But last I checked we had over a 300 year supply and growing.

[@Stinky_Steven]

This is an incredibly useful comment, thank you

[@edr.2642]

Simple solution...stop selling them for baloons. Its getting wasted anyway.

[@gristlevonraben]

I'm starting to think that the helium shortage has to do with a hidden technology, like space travel power supplies, as in fusion engines.

[@Livelikechip]

No

[@purplejester33]

Is that why my local Dollar Tree always has multiple signs that say "no helium"? Huh, I just assumed it was because they were a bad individual store.

[@hi_im_angelatrainor]

They just stopped selling it in stores yesterday when I went to get my father balloons. I was freaking out.

[@ryanpervola163]

Smiling Friends brought me here

[@satyakijai]

How do you identify yellow lights during a solar eclipse that too a century back?

[@MrFTW733]

so a main problem is storing Helium, so an improvement in how to contain it is a priority.

[@ermdon]

We are running out because it was all used in the Allstate commercial

[@burgerman101]

Someone needs to figure out a way to extract it from space. I’m not giving up in balloons.

[@randypullman1155]

There must be away to synthesize the stuff?

[@TheTaXoro]

It's theoretically possible but not in practical use no. But if we stopped wasting it for silly balloons and mined for it we wouldn't have an issue.

[@Juniorrs.exe-]

You guys helium shouldn't be banned in balloons but for now it should be suspended for use of balloons until we have a safe anount of helium to keep the MRI and internet running.

[@LightBluly]

No wonder i don't see them use helium ballons anymore. I remember there use to be a lot when i was a kid. Now instead of helium, they use a transparent plastic ballons with blinking lights here. Kinda cool i would say.

[@elcheapo5302]

Hydrogen balloons would be more fun anyway.

[@wind-solar]

Hell yeah

[@khaos5085]

I blame the Balloonfest of 1986. Cleveland Ohio doomed us all.

[@wind-solar]

Dammit! There goes my Death Ray laser.

[@bazil4146]

I better be saving my hellium balloons soon. They're gonna be worth a fortune in the future

[@matthewgrayson8]

Yay ! Find the Helium !!!

[@daniel_960_]

We just need fusion reactors to produce more

[@LostMySauce]

Video volume needs to be increased by 25% or so

[@BRBallin1]

I went to Party City and they had around a 100 balloons filled up with helium just for display. That seems extremely wasteful.

[@norman7179]

Didn't mention Helium as a shielding gas for T I G welding aluminum.

[@scottcarr3264]

Norman, Yes, it assists in making a hotter arc, than just straight Argon.

[@Trackrace29582]

Macy is the second largest user of helium

[@ForeignRapper]

“Cutter” for “qatar” lollllll

[@naufrage0]

"A lot at stake"? we dont need baloons

[@pieman141]

Did you not watch to video? So much more important things use helium for cooling and other things.

[@naufrage0]

@@pieman141 ...yea dude, thats why im saying to say companies like Party City have "a lot at stake" is crazy.

[@davidsflooringco]

I always knew those circus clowns were up to no good!

[@SkyMcGowin]

So I should be buying HELIUM and not crypto currency? Brilliant!

[@tigergallant]

Welp. . I guess it's time to switch to Hydrogen.

[@TNTExplodesLOL]

No hydrogen can explode its unsafe unlike helium.

[@lukeasarts9788]

@@TNTExplodesLOL huh must have personal experience with explosions

[@cyndie26]

TNT Explodes LOL But what is the alternative if no helium exists? The US embargoed Germany's helium, so they had nothing else.

[@sanjuansteve]

And will we have too much helium if/when they get fusion reactors working and fully implemented?

[@raifikarj6698]

The answer is no. Because we build nuclear reactor to use small amount of fuel to get high energy possible so it will only produce small quantity to. No way we can produce it in same rate as what we used it today only tiny amount. Because helium that we get is collected after Million years. As far we know nuclear fusion is only in testing ground. Better saving the helium now rather than depleted it at ASAP rate.

[@scottcarr3264]

sanjuansteve, They can't run Uranium fission reactors without damaging the Planet, so what makes you think they know how to run a FUSION reactor any better. They are BOTH the wrong type of Reactor for mankind, Thorium Salt reactors are the ONLY SAFE way for humanity.

[@corthew]

Its not a shortage issue...Its a demand issue...Saying its a shortage suggests a dwindling supply. Even if that's not what it means that's what it sounds like. And it doesn't escape into space...It just floats at the upper edge of our atmosphere.

[@Yetus]

Ye but wudabout da nerve gas?

[@letsgetstarted9099]

That was some news..!

[@henrymccomments]

Didn’t know this was a problem

[@e.honchoo9596]

Rip my graduation and future birthdays 😂

[@RolandKontson]

Fusion would help... still, we really don't need those balloons, get warm air or something...

[@lordbeerus3383]

Basically no helium means no internet?

[@johnr.6023]

Wdym

[@MyOneEdit]

No more party balloons and inhaling to have a high-pitch voice.