Airgas Declares Force Majeure on Helium Shipments After Qatar LNG Collapse

Airgas Inc., one of the largest distributors of packaged gases in the United States and a subsidiary of French industrial group Air Liquide, declared a force majeure event on helium shipments on March 17, 2026. The announcement only became public knowledge in the last days of March, when letters sent to customers were reviewed by Bloomberg News. The move was triggered by the collapse of helium production in Qatar following a series of Iranian missile strikes on the country's critical LNG infrastructure, which have disrupted a significant share of global helium supply.

Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Airgas has grown into the leading US supplier of industrial, medical, and specialty gases through more than 500 acquisitions. The company serves over one million customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, aerospace, and food processing, operating from more than 1,400 locations nationwide. In 2016, Airgas was acquired by Air Liquide for approximately 13.4 billion dollars, becoming a cornerstone of the French group's North American operations.

The crisis originated with Iranian military strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world's largest LNG export hub, responsible for processing approximately 20 percent of global LNG supply. The attacks caused severe damage to two of Qatar's 14 LNG production trains and one gas-to-liquids facility, temporarily disabling 12.8 million tonnes per year of LNG capacity for an estimated three to five years. Qatar's state-owned energy company QatarEnergy declared force majeure on its entire LNG output following the attacks, impacting long-term supply contracts with buyers in Europe and Asia.

Helium is extracted as a natural byproduct of LNG production. When LNG output halts, helium production stops entirely. Qatar accounted for approximately 63 million cubic meters of helium in 2025, representing roughly one third of global supply. With LNG trains offline and the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed to commercial shipping since early March 2026, Qatar's helium exports have been brought to a near standstill. Around 200 specialized cryogenic containers used to transport liquid helium are currently stranded inside Qatar with no viable shipping route out. These containers can only store helium in liquid form for 35 to 48 days before the gas warms, reverts to its gaseous state, and escapes into the atmosphere.

The force majeure letters sent by Airgas to its customers state that the company anticipates providing some clients with up to 50 percent of their normal monthly helium allocations until supply conditions normalize. In addition to the volume reduction, Airgas is applying a temporary surcharge of 13.50 dollars per hundred cubic feet above the contracted price to reflect the sharply increased cost of sourcing helium from alternative markets.

Airgas has confirmed it is prioritizing healthcare customers over industrial clients during the disruption. This decision was communicated through a market update produced by Vizient, a hospital purchasing services organization. The prioritization reflects the critical and non-substitutable role helium plays in medical applications, particularly in cooling the superconducting magnets inside MRI scanners, which must operate near absolute zero to maintain a stable magnetic field for diagnostic imaging.

Hospitals across the United States rely on a continuous supply of liquid helium to keep MRI equipment operational. Despite the severity of the supply cut, procurement organizations representing major US hospital networks, including Premier Inc., have indicated that current medical-grade helium stocks remain stable. Industry analysts note that most of Qatar's helium exports are directed toward Europe and Asia rather than the United States, which is itself the world's largest producer of the gas. The US market is therefore somewhat insulated compared to regions that depend more heavily on Qatari supply.

Beyond healthcare, helium is a core inert gas in the manufacturing of advanced semiconductors. It is used to cool fabrication equipment, create controlled atmospheres inside chip production facilities, and purge systems during precision manufacturing steps. AI accelerator chips produced by NVIDIA Corp. and advanced node wafers manufactured by Taiwan's TSMC both depend on a reliable helium supply. South Korea and Taiwan are identified as the most exposed markets given their reliance on Qatari sources. Chipmakers have invested in larger helium inventories and improved gas recycling systems since the COVID-19 pandemic, providing some near-term buffer, but a prolonged Qatari shutdown would progressively erode these reserves.

Air Liquide, the parent company of Airgas, announced it is actively reallocating helium supply from production sources outside the Middle East to partially offset the shortfall. The French industrial gas group also operates a large underground helium storage facility in northwestern Germany, where the gas is held in a salt reservoir 1,300 meters below ground, with capacity covering up to one year of supply for its European customers.

Analysts warn that the only large-scale replacement for Qatari helium in the short term would be Russian production, but Western sanctions severely limit Moscow's ability to expand exports. US producers, including ExxonMobil as the largest helium producer outside Qatar, along with smaller operators such as North American Helium and Helix Exploration, are expected to see increased demand and upward pricing pressure. According to Kornbluth Helium Consulting, the damaged Qatari LNG trains represent approximately 5 percent of global helium supply. Given a two-year oversupply that preceded the current crisis, analysts estimate the effective shortage at around 15 percent rather than the full 30 percent that Qatar normally contributes. QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi has stated that production cannot restart until active hostilities cease and conditions at the Strait of Hormuz stabilize, leaving the duration of the Airgas force majeure directly tied to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.