The gas keeping the world's MRI scanners running and AI chips cool is suddenly in critically short supply. Six ASX-listed companies could find themselves in the right place at the right time.
The Iran crisis is, first and foremost, a human tragedy. The drone and missile strikes that forced the closure of Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City in early March 2026, and the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that followed, have caused death, displacement and economic dislocation on a scale the world is still measuring.
But crises have consequences that ripple into unexpected places. One of them is a gas that most people have never thought about, yet which underpins the hospitals where they are diagnosed, the chips that run their phones and the AI systems they increasingly rely on.
That gas is helium.
Why helium matters
Helium is not the party balloon gas of popular imagination, or rather not only that. It is, in industrial and medical terms, irreplaceable.
The single largest use, by revenue, is healthcare. Every MRI scanner in every hospital in the world runs on liquid helium. The gas cools the superconducting magnets inside the machines to minus 268.9 degrees Celsius, just above absolute zero. Nothing else can do that job at viable cost. There is no workaround, no substitute material currently available. When helium runs short, scanners go dark.
Beyond medicine, helium is essential to semiconductor manufacturing, where it cools silicon wafers during the extreme ultraviolet lithography processes that produce the most advanced chips. It seals every hard drive with a capacity above 10 terabytes. It cools the dilution refrigerators inside quantum computers. It pressurises the cryogenic fuel tanks on SpaceX rockets. NASA alone uses approximately 75 million cubic feet annually.
Unlike oil or rare earth metals, helium cannot be recycled in full. Once it escapes into the atmosphere it rises until it reaches the upper layers of the air and is lost to space. It is the second most abundant element in the universe and among the most strategically concentrated on Earth.
The supply shock
The Ras Laffan facility in Qatar was the world's single largest helium production hub. Its closure, combined with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, removed approximately 30% of global helium supply at a stroke, according to Professor Eric May of the University of Western Australia's Future Energy Exports CRC.
Ships rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope add 10 to 14 days to transit times and around 3,500 nautical miles to each voyage. During that additional time at sea, liquid helium boils off, cutting the volume that actually arrives at its destination. The production outage and the logistics squeeze are compounding each other.
Spot prices for Grade A helium stood at around US$390 per thousand cubic feet in 2024, with estimates putting the price at $350-$600 a year later. Industry analysts have cited projections of up to $2,000 per thousand cubic feet in the current market. Samsung and SK Hynix, which sourced roughly 65% of their helium from Qatar, are among the most exposed. The NHS and equivalent health systems in Europe and Asia face the same constraint, in slower motion, as hospital helium buffers are drawn down.
The pressure on buyers to secure supply from geopolitically stable, non-Gulf locations has never been more acute.
The opportunity
Problems often look like something else from another angle. For a cluster of ASX-listed small-caps developing helium assets across the US, Africa and Australia, along with a critical gas infrastructure play, the crisis has compressed a decade of market education into a matter of weeks. Large industrial buyers, semiconductor companies and medical gas distributors are actively seeking supply from sources that are not geographically hostage to the Strait of Hormuz.
Here are six Australian-listed companies positioned, to varying degrees, to benefit.
Noble Helium (ASX: NHE)
Noble Helium Ltd (ASX:NHE) is advancing a large-scale exploration play in Tanzania’s Rukwa Basin, a region increasingly recognised as one of the world’s most prospective helium provinces. The company holds multiple licences across the basin and has already identified high-grade helium concentrations from historical wells, alongside modern geophysical targets. A recent $12 million capital raise is funding a multi-well drilling campaign aimed at converting that potential into commercial discovery. Like its regional peers, Noble offers exposure to a geologically proven but still underdeveloped helium system, with access to export routes via the port of Dar es Salaam providing a clear pathway into Asian markets.
Blue Star Helium (ASX: BNL)
Blue Star Helium Ltd (ASX:BNL, OTC:BSNLF) is focused on near-term production in the United States, with a portfolio of projects in Colorado targeting conventional helium reservoirs with established infrastructure nearby. The company has been progressing development drilling and testing at its flagship Galactica-Pegasus project, where it aims to bring helium to market relatively quickly compared with greenfield explorers. With operations located in a mature oil and gas jurisdiction and access to existing processing and transport networks, Blue Star’s strategy centres on shortening the path from discovery to revenue while supplying into a structurally tight North American market.
D3 Energy (ASX: D3E)
D3 Energy Ltd (ASX:D3E, OTCQX:DNRGF) offers a differentiated angle on the helium theme, targeting helium as a byproduct of its natural gas and methane projects in South Africa’s Free State. The company has reported commercially relevant helium concentrations alongside its gas resources, positioning it to potentially monetise two commodities from the same development. Management has highlighted the growing fragility of global helium supply, with disruptions from the Strait of Hormuz blockade quickly tightening the market. With existing gas infrastructure in-country and a focus on integrated production, D3’s model leans towards steady, dual-revenue generation rather than pure-play exploration upside.
Thor Energy (ASX: THR)
Thor Energy PLC (AIM:THR, OTCQB:THORF, ASX:THR) has built helium exposure around its flagship Hy-Range project in South Australia, a natural hydrogen and helium play located within one of Australia’s emerging gas fairways. The project sits on a granted exploration licence (PEL 120, now RSEL 802) and is positioned near recent hydrogen and helium discoveries, with Thor holding an 80.2% interest. Early-stage work, including geochemical surveys, has confirmed elevated hydrogen and helium concentrations and identified multiple high-priority targets for future drilling. While still at the exploration stage, Hy-Range anchors Thor’s shift towards exposure to emerging “white hydrogen” alongside helium, offering a more speculative but potentially high-impact entry into a new segment of the gas market.
Prominence Energy (ASX: PRM)
Prominence Energy Ltd (ASX:PRM) is in the early stages of exploring for helium and hydrogen at its Gawler project in South Australia, a frontier play targeting naturally occurring gases in a region with limited historical drilling. Recent field surveys mark the first step in building a geological model to support future drilling. While higher risk given its greenfield nature, the project sits within a stable jurisdiction and adds to the growing list of Australian-based helium exploration efforts. Prominence’s approach is firmly at the discovery end of the spectrum, offering leverage to exploration success in a market increasingly focused on secure, domestic supply.
Provaris Energy (ASX: PV1) — the infrastructure angle
Provaris Energy Ltd (ASX:PV1, OTC:GBBLF, FRA:WS90) sits slightly outside the core helium exploration theme, but speaks to the key underlying constraint of how critical gases are stored and transported at scale. The company is developing compressed hydrogen and liquid CO₂ storage and shipping solutions, built around proprietary tank designs and integrated supply chain infrastructure. Its model focuses on enabling regional energy trade by simplifying the transport of gases that are difficult or costly to move, particularly across maritime routes. Recent funding has supported ongoing development of its hydrogen and CO₂ transport programs, with partnerships in shipping and engineering aimed at advancing commercialisation.
While not a helium producer, Provaris highlights a parallel theme: in tight global markets, it is not just supply that matters, but the infrastructure required to move it. As disruptions expose weaknesses in existing logistics chains, companies working on scalable gas transport solutions may become increasingly relevant.
The risks
All of the helium companies listed above share characteristics that investors should weigh carefully. Most are pre-revenue or early-stage producers. Moving from exploration to consistent production is technically demanding and frequently takes longer than planned. Several will require further equity fundraises as development capital is deployed, and additional share issuances will dilute existing holders.
Commodity prices are inherently volatile. The helium supply picture that looks so tight today could ease if Ras Laffan capacity returns sooner than expected, if new large-scale byproduct production comes online from LNG plants in North America or Africa, or if industrial users accelerate recycling programs. Outside forces, from regulatory delays to drilling setbacks to currency movements, are beyond management control.
These are not investments for the risk averse. They are speculative positions on a structural trend, at an early stage in that trend's development, for investors prepared to accept the possibility of significant loss alongside the possibility of significant gain.