핵심요약

• 이란 전쟁으로 호르무즈 해협 폐쇄되며 카타르 헬륨 수출량 세계 총량의 30% 감소
• 미국은 세계 헬륨 생산량의 44% 차지, 텍사스-캐나다 매장량 가장 많음
• 컬러라도 동남부 헬륨 농도 최대 7%로 수익성 높은 채굴 가능
• 헬륨은 MRI, 광섬유 케이블, 반도체 제조 등 필수적

도입

이란 전쟁으로 인한 헬륨 공급 차단은 전 세계적인 산업에 큰 영향을 미치고 있습니다. 특히 의료, 통신, 반도체 분야에서 헬륨은 필수적인 자원으로서 그 가치가 급등하고 있습니다. 투자자들에게는 헬륨 관련 기업의 수익성 변화와 시장 동향을 주목해야 할 시점입니다.

본문 1: 헬륨 공급 차장의 시장 영향

이란 전쟁으로 호르무즈 해협이 폐쇄되며 카타르에서 수출되는 헬륨 공급량이 세계 총량의 30% 감소했습니다. 이는 국제적인 산업 가스 회사들이 헬륨 공급을 제한하고 고객들에게 배분하는 상황에 이르게 했습니다. 특히 헬륨은 MRI 기기, 광섬유 케이블, 반도체 제조에 필수적인 자원으로서 그 공급 차장이 산업 전반에 큰 영향을 미치고 있습니다. 이는 헬륨 관련 기업들의 수익성 증대에 기여할 수 있는 요인이 됩니다.

본문 2: 미국 헬륨 매장량의 전략적 가치

미국은 세계 헬륨 생산량의 44%를 차지하며, 텍사스에서 캐나다까지 이어지는 매장량이 가장 많습니다. 특히 컬러라도의 동남부에서는 헬륨 농도가 최대 7%에 달해 채굴이 수익성이 좋습니다. 이는 미국이 헬륨 공급 차장 situation에서 전략적 우위를 점할 수 있는 중요한 요인이 됩니다. 또한, 헬륨의 수요는 계속 증가하고 있어 미국 기업들에게는 장기적인 성장 가능성이 있습니다.

본문 3: 헬륨 수요의 장기적 전망

헬륨은 MRI 기기, 광섬유 케이블, 반도체 제조 등 다양한 분야에서 필수적인 자원으로서 그 수요는 계속 증가하고 있습니다. 특히 반도체 분야에서는 헬륨의 수요가 계속 증가할 전망입니다. 이는 헬륨 관련 기업들에게는 장기적인 성장 가능성이 있습니다. 그러나 공급 차장 situation이 지속될 경우, 산업 전반에 큰 영향을 미칠 수 있는 위험성도 있습니다.

결론

이란 전쟁으로 인한 헬륨 공급 차장은 전 세계적인 산업에 큰 영향을 미치고 있습니다. 미국은 헬륨 생산량에서 전략적 우위를 점하고 있어, 헬륨 관련 기업들의 수익성 증대에 기여할 수 있는 요인이 됩니다. 그러나 공급 차장 situation이 지속될 경우, 산업 전반에 큰 영향을 미칠 수 있는 위험성도 있습니다. 향후 헬륨 시장 동향과 관련 기업들의 전략을 주목해야 할 필요가 있습니다.

---

원문 링크: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxOcEtzOWJFcGZTOU1HWjVsc1ZTSzhlU2JiWTZzVDVySlIxenZ5VjllaERqdXJTbjZ3SUR2Rk1NWEgxTjFKaFRUZ0x4aEVoZnZ3dnVvZzBGSWRrSl9ZN2NUNHcxWC0wWk9wZjZPZFMzUC10Z2J0dUlQR0N3NG1SWkNiVV9HZVlOaEViUUdhcDZSNVBCVWc?oc=5

Colorado helium reserves got a bounce when war with Iran cut off 30% of the world’s supply - The Colorado Sun

CHEYENNE WELLS — Colorado’s southeastern plains, still brown from winter and drought, are a long way from the Middle East, but when the Iran war bottled up exports from the Persian Gulf, a resource beneath those prairies became more valuable.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off 30% of the world’s helium supply from Qatar. International industrial gas companies, such as France’s Air Liquide and Ireland-based Linde, declared a force majeure and began rationing helium among their customers.

The major remaining supply, indeed the world’s largest source is the U.S. The country produces about 44% of the world’s helium, with the best reserves stretching roughly from the Texas Panhandle through Colorado and Wyoming into Canada.

And so, on a June morning at the Ladder Creek Helium Plant , just outside Cheyenne Wells , specially designed Air Liquide trailers filled with liquid helium were bound for China, France, Japan, Germany and Austria.

“It is an international market, there is a lot of demand for helium and it’s growing,” said Darin Dickey, co-owner Tumbleweed Midstream , which runs the plant.

After hydrogen, helium — a colorless, odorless, nontoxic gas — is the second most abundant and lightest element in the universe. A quarter of the sun is helium.

It is a small atom, lighter than air. The gas is inert so it does not combine with other elements. It is unique among all the elements in that it can reach ultra-cold temperatures, approaching absolute zero.

Here on Earth, it is widely distributed but only in a few strata is it found in concentrations above 2% making it profitable to harvest. The concentrations in southeastern Colorado reach up to 7%, Dickey said.

As a result of its unique properties the demand for helium has soared. Magnetic resonance imaging machines, or MRIs, are cooled with it. A pure helium environment is used to prevent air bubbles in making fiber optical optic cables. It is vital in making computer chips.

Rocket fuel tanks are pressurized with it and the gas is used to purge rocket engines. Because it is inert, it is used as a shield in arc welding, especially for aluminum and copper.

In scientific research, helium is a coolant in quantum mechanics research , particle accelerators, and specialized solar telescopes.

And of course there are the balloons — blimps, weather balloons and party balloons.

In a five-year span, the price of helium rose 250%, according to the American Chemical Society . Helium is mainly sold in undisclosed, provider-customer contracts making the market opaque.

Just before the Iran war began in March, the price in the spot market, representing about 5% of the trade, was in the vicinity of $300 per million cubic feet, according to Phil Kornbluth , an industry consultant.

By way of comparison, a comparable volume of natural gas would cost $3,100.

Once the Strait of Hormuz was closed the spot price more than doubled and even customers with long-term contracts were hit with a surcharge, Kornbluth said.

That made the helium sitting in the Ladder Creek plant all that more valuable.

“Most companies in most countries might have said we’d rather have helium from the U.S. rather than Qatar, but that difference was very little before this war,” Kornbluth said. “Now that has changed. I am a little bullish on North American production.”

The helium processed at the plant primarily comes from natural gas wells in Kansas and Colorado. Ladder Creek has a 750-mile network of gathering lines from gas wells stretching 155 miles from Holcombe, Kansas, to just outside Hugo .

A mix of hydrocarbon, nitrogen and helium gases arrives by pipeline and the plant uses cold to separate out the constituents.

“Butanes liquify at minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit … methane at minus 250, nitrogen at minus 321 and helium at minus 454 degrees Fahrenheit,” Matt Randel, the plant supervisor, explained.

The natural gas is put into the Colorado Interstate Gas Pipeline where it can head to the Front Range or down into Texas.

Once the helium gas has been separated and purified to 99.999%, it is compressed and sent to a liquefier, which looks a bit like a one-story-tall cocktail shaker. There it is cooled to minus 454 degrees and turned into a liquid product.

Chilling helium and keeping it chilled can be tricky. Even a pinhole leak in the vacuum insulation can undo the liquefier, as can losing 1 degree of cooling.

“Making liquid helium is like magic,” Randel said.

The liquid helium is kept at minus 454 degrees and about 10,000 gallons worth is poured into specially designed liquid helium trailers, which fit on a flatbed trailer.

“They are basically giant thermos bottles,” said Hickey, and each one costs about $1.5 million.

The trailers as well as helium have been tied up in the Persian Gulf, leading to a scramble for containers. “The war has even affected shipments outside the Gulf,” Hickey said.

There only a few liquefaction plants in the world

Ladder Creek is one of only 14 helium liquefaction plants in the world and one of seven in the country. Helium gas is shipped to Ladder Creek from as far away as Canada, in 53-foot-long tubes, to be liquified.

Source: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxOcEtzOWJFcGZTOU1HWjVsc1ZTSzhlU2JiWTZzVDVySlIxenZ5VjllaERqdXJTbjZ3SUR2Rk1NWEgxTjFKaFRUZ0x4aEVoZnZ3dnVvZzBGSWRrSl9ZN2NUNHcxWC0wWk9wZjZPZFMzUC10Z2J0dUlQR0N3NG1SWkNiVV9HZVlOaEViUUdhcDZSNVBCVWc?oc=5