The Federal Helium Program was started in 1925 by Congress to ensure the ongoing supply of helium to the Federal Government for defense, research and medical purposes.  The Bureau of Mines constructed a large helium extraction and purification plant near Amarillo, TX and was the only domestic producer of helium from 1929 to 1960.  In the early 1940's the demand for helium increased and Congress passed an amendment to the Helium Act in 1960 with incentives to private natural gas producers to strip helium form natural gas and sell to the government. The Secretary of the Interior was authorized to borrow money from the US Treasury to buy helium for research and other programs, however most of the helium was sent to a storage facility known as the Federal Helium Reserve.

The BLM manages the Federal Helium Program, which includes all operations of the Cliffside Field helium storage reservoir, in Potter County, TX, and the Government’s crude helium pipeline system. The BLM no longer supplies Federal agencies with Grade-A helium. Private firms that sell Grade-A helium to Federal agencies are required to purchase a like amount of (in-kind) crude helium from the BLM. The Helium Privatization Act of 1996 mandated that all Federal Conservation helium stored in Bush Dome at the Cliffside Field be offered for sale, except 16.6 million cubic meters (600 million cubic feet).

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As technology progressed, the program became one of supplying the Federal Government with high-tech grade helium for high tech research and aerospace.  

The 1996 Helium Privatization Act redefined the primary function of the program  which now includes:

• maintenance and operation oversight of the helium reservoir and pipeline system
• providing crude helium gas by contract to private companies
• evaluating helium bearing gas fields and providing responsible access to those lands for managed recovery of helium





As the cost of helium rises, so are the costs of the products and services using helium, and in turn, the products and services which depend upon them. The cost of helium has been kept artificially low because the US government has been selling off large reserves that it accumulated during the cold war. The sell off will be complete in 2015, then demand must be met by current production facilities, which do not yet have the capacity to meet current demand. One analyst suggests that helium prices should be increased 20-fold to preserve supplies.



The impact of the selling the Federal Helium Reserve has been documented in a research paper in 2000 and is available at http://www.nap/edu/catalog.php?record_id=12844.



In 2010 the BLM (Bureau Of Land Management) revised its pricing mechanism of crude helium in order to cover the debt repayment and interest. The new pricing methodology resulted from the recommendations of the report released by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to sell helium at market price rather than the legislated minimum.  This new price is applied only to the open helium market and not to the cost of helium sold for federal purposes.   

 During 2012, BLM helium prices to nongovernment buyers increased to $2.73 per cubic meter of gas delivered. In 2013, increased cost recovery measures are expected to be implemented at various natural gas fields throughout the United States, including the Hugoton and Riley Ridge Fields. The AMFO conducted four open market helium offerings in FY 2012, selling a total of 58.2 million cubic meters of helium. By the end of this decade, international helium extraction facilities are likely to become the main source of supply for world helium uses. Seven international helium plants are in operation and more are planned for the next 3 to 5 years. Expansions to facilities are planned in Algeria and Qatar with a new extraction facility expected to be online within the next 2 years.  Demand continues to exceed the ability of the BLM’s Crude Helium Enrichment Unit to supply its customers along the crude helium pipeline and therefore resulted in an allocation of helium to the refiners. The shortage of helium and allocations are expected to continue in 2013 and may become greater as the storage reservoir production declines.

What is the Helium Crisis?

Liquid Helium is in short supply these days and is in a crisis situation impacting the future needs for our medical, agricultural, government and retail industries if not addressed by the end of 2013.  

Very little helium is present in Earth's atmosphere. It is such a light element that Earth's gravity can not hold it. When present at Earth's surface, unconfined helium immediately begins rising until it escapes the planet. 

The helium that is produced commercially is obtained from the ground. Some natural gas fields have enough helium mingled with the gas that it can be extracted at an economical cost. A few fields in the United States contain over 7% helium by volume. Companies that drill for natural gas in these areas produce the natural gas, process it and remove the helium as a byproduct.



Helium is a gas that is continually being produced by radioactive mineral decay in the Earth's crust, however its rate of natural production and accumulation is so slow that it is considered a nonrenewable resource.

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There is a rare isotope of helium, He-3, produced as a by-product of the nuclear weapons industry, and used in nuclear energy research. Ironically, the decrease in nuclear weapons production is threatening supply of He-3 for peaceful means. 

Helium is a chemical element and a colorless, odorless, tasteless, inert gas with no tendency to combine with other elements. It has the smallest atomic radius of any element and the second lowest atomic weight. It is lighter than air, therefore party balloons rise.

It has the highest ionization potential (24.587 eV).The boiling point of helium is closer to absolute zero than that of any other element, so liquid helium can provide the lowest operating temperatures of any refrigerant.

Helium remains liquid at atmospheric pressure down to absolute zero and can be solidified only by applying 25 atm. In its solid form, helium is extremely compressible, permitting volume changes of more than 30 percent.

Liquid 4He undergoes a transition to a superfluid phase at temperatures below -455.5 °F and has extraordinary physical properties, including viscosity-free fluid flow and extraordinarily high thermal conductivity.



The specific heat and thermal conductivity of helium gas are very high.

Helium is radiologically inert (i.e., it does not easily participate in nuclear processes and does not become radioactive).