The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced Friday that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has designated helium as a critical material under the Energy Act of 2020. The designation advances the Trump Administration’s commitment to freeing America from reliance on foreign sources of critical materials, strengthening domestic manufacturing, supporting American jobs, and securing the materials essential to U.S. economic and national security, the DOE said. DOE determined that helium meets the statutory definition of a critical material due to its essential role in American manufacturing and growing exposure to supply chain risks. Helium’s unique properties make it indispensable to semiconductor production, with no viable substitutes in many critical applications. Helium in the US is produced as a byproduct of natural gas processing in Kansas, Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Kansas leads production, with plants refining crude and Grade-A helium from natural gas in fields in the Hugoton and Greenwood areas. Texas has large production and storage infrastructure, including the Panhandle-Hugoton fields, the Cliffside field, and storage caverns near Beaumont. “Helium is essential to producing the semiconductors and advanced technologies that power our economy,” US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a news release. “By designating helium as a critical material, we are taking another step toward securing our supply chains, creating American jobs, and ensuring the United States leads the world in energy and technological innovation.” Global demand for helium is growing faster than production, increasing supply risks for American manufacturers. Despite the nation’s abundant helium resources, limited refining capacity and lengthy permitting timelines continue to constrain US production.
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