Been a looming problem for years: http://www.metafilter.com/94959/We-Are-Running-Out-Of-Helium-and-Its-Worse-Than-You-Think http://www.metafilter.com/94959/We-

Been a looming problem for years: http://www.metafilter.com/94959/We-Are-Running-Out-Of-Helium-and-Its-Worse-Than-You-Think http://www.metafilter.com/94959/We-Are-Running-Out-Of-Helium... The Helium Privatisation Act required the reserve to sell enough helium to pay off its debts by a given deadline, then close. The resulting glut has kept the price low. http://phys.org/news201853523.html http://phys.org/news201853523.html I don't know why they didn't instead just sell the reserve in its entirety for the amount of the debt, or for more. If the goal was to get the government out of the helium business (a dubious aim, if it's really as strategic an asset as all that) that would have done the job immediately and eliminated years of market distortion. But I guess any upheaval that resulted would be easily tied to the government officials who were around at the time. Helium is a byproduct of natural gas production ... Demand for helium has risen, driven particularly by Asia's booming manufacturing industry. A cynic might wonder if a closing date known 19 years in advance was designed partly to ensure that American petrochemical industry had time to develop the infrastructure required to take maximum advantage of any price shock.