The Department of Energy (DOE) added helium to its Critical Materials List on October 23, 2026, making it the 20th material to join and the most recent after metallurgical coal. The department did so on the justification that “helium is non-substitutable for multiple critical energy functions,” including “semiconductor manufacturing, leak testing natural gas infrastructure, and quantum computing.”
To qualify as a critical material, “a substance or mineral has to be both essential for an energy technology and at high risk of supply chain disruption.” Helium fits the bill. When the Strait of Hormuz closed this year, the second-largest global supplier of helium, Qatar, was cut off from markets. Qatar supplied 63 million of the world’s 190 million cubic meters of helium in 2025 and provided 28% of U.S. imports between 2021 and 2024. Spot prices doubled shortly after the Strait of Hormuz closed.
Helium is now in a global shortage, though Wyoming—a state that produces about 20% of the world’s supply—intends to ramp up production. Six new U.S. helium operations started production in 2025: three in New Mexico, and one each in Colorado, Kansas, and Montana. The U.S. has had a fairly steady supply, which is why the Department of the Interior removed helium from its list of critical minerals in 2022 and left it off the 2025 version.
Despite abundant helium resources in the U.S., DOE notes that “limited refining capacity and lengthy permitting timelines continue to constrain U.S. production.” The Bureau of Land Management approved Blue Spruce Operating’s Dry Piney project near LaBarge, Wyoming, in December 2025, on a site that mixes federal, state, and private land. At full capacity, it would produce about 2.3 million cubic feet of liquid helium per day, roughly 10% of world supply. Blue Spruce has applied to DOE for federal financing, and DOE’s August 2026 notice expects construction from the third quarter of 2026 through the third quarter of 2029.
DOE’s critical materials list is a gateway to possible grant, loan, and tax credit opportunities for promising projects. It also makes gaining permits more streamlined.
As helium joins the list, one can hope that it will shepherd new helium projects to construction and lessen U.S. reliance on other countries.