Closure of the Strait of Hormuz threatens global helium supplies as artificial intelligence drives rapidly growing demand from the semiconductor industry
AUSTIN, TX / ACCESS Newswire / October 22, 2026 / Richard Brook, President of Garrison Ventures and a veteran of the global helium industry, was featured in the October 18, 2026, broadcast of CBS News' 60 Minutes in a segment titled "Up in the Air," reported by Jon Wertheim and produced by Lucy Hatcher.
LINK TO THE SEGMENT
The segment examined the global helium market, focusing on the implications of the Strait of Hormuz's closure for worldwide helium supply and demand. Qatar normally accounts for approximately one-third of the world's helium supply, making disruptions to its production and export capabilities particularly consequential for the global market. The interruption of helium shipments from Qatar has raised serious concerns about availability, supply security, and the consequences for industries dependent on this critical resource.
While most people associate helium with party balloons, the element plays an indispensable role in modern medicine, scientific research, and advanced manufacturing. Its unique physical properties make it irreplaceable in many critical applications, where no practical substitute exists.
The semiconductor industry is the fastest-growing consumer of helium, driven by the extraordinary acceleration in demand for artificial intelligence. The production of advanced AI processors and the associated high-bandwidth memory (HBM) devices requires significant quantities of helium during semiconductor manufacturing. As investment in AI infrastructure accelerates worldwide, the semiconductor industry's requirements for helium continue to expand rapidly.
This convergence of rapidly growing demand and the disruption of a major source of global supply has brought the importance of a safe, reliable, and secure helium supply to worldwide attention. What was once a relatively obscure industrial gas has become increasingly important to the technologies underpinning the global digital economy.
The 60 Minutes report also explored helium's critical role in other applications, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), scientific research, and aerospace. In the aerospace industry, helium is widely used to pressurize and purge rocket propulsion systems, supporting the safe and reliable launch of spacecraft and satellites. Its unique physical properties also make it essential to numerous advanced industrial and scientific processes.
With global helium production concentrated in relatively few countries, geopolitical disruptions can have far-reaching consequences for industrial supply chains, availability, and pricing. The combination of increasing demand from advanced technologies and uncertainty surrounding major sources of supply underscores the growing strategic importance of helium to the global economy.
Brook brings more than 40 years of experience in the industrial gas industry, including senior leadership positions at Air Liquide, and has extensive expertise in global helium production, supply, distribution, and commercial markets.
Through Garrison Ventures, Brook advises companies on helium markets, supply strategies, commercial opportunities, and emerging technologies. He also publishes The Brook Report, a weekly industry intelligence briefing covering developments in helium, helium-3, exploration, and related technologies.
About Garrison Ventures
Garrison Ventures is an Austin, Texas-based advisory and commercial services firm specializing in the global helium industry. Led by Richard Brook, the firm provides market intelligence, strategic advisory services, business development, and commercialization support for helium-related products and technologies.
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Garrison Ventures
Austin, Texas
www.allthingshelium.com
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SOURCE: Garrison Ventures
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