據油價網4月6日消息，氦氣、氬氣、氖氣、氙氣和氪氣等所謂的“稀有氣體”或“惰性氣體”，往往局限于利基市場。但是，盡管它們的穩定結構使它們在許多化學反應中幾乎不發生反應，但在我們的經濟體系中，稀有氣體絕不是惰性的。也即是說，氦是宇宙中僅次于氫的第二豐富元素，是一種重要的資源，在微芯片制造、混合動力飛行器、充氦的硬盤驅動器以及太空探索等現代領域都有應用。

氦傳統上被用于比空氣輕的氣球，因為氦氣比空氣輕7倍，而且比宇宙中最輕的元素氫的活性小得多。

在我們的星球上，氦的供應要少得多，在大氣中僅有5.2 ppm的體積，使其成為大氣中第二稀有的自由存在氣體。

由于美國幾個天然氣產區的氦氣濃度高于平均水平，所以氦氣主要從天然氣中產生。

地球上大部分的氦是重放射性元素自然放射性衰變的結果。然而，一家名為沙漠山能源 (Desert Mountain Energy)的加拿大公司計劃在亞利桑那州中東部靠近霍爾布魯克的地方勘探氦氣，霍爾布魯克被稱為“氦氣的沙特阿拉伯”，是世界上氦氣儲量最豐富的地區之一。

然而，隨著需求的增加，各大公司一直在積極加大美國氦氣勘探力度，包括亞利桑那州北部。

目前全球僅有14家提煉氦的工廠。

氦氣供應減少

氦的獨特性能使其成為低溫、屏蔽、泄漏檢測、傳熱、分析和提升應用的重要組成部分。氦的熔點為-261.1°C(-429°F)，是所有元素中熔點最低的，這意味著在需要超低溫的情況下，沒有任何氣體可以替代它。這使得氦在超冷條件的研究中不可或缺。氦氣也是MRI和半導體芯片等制造的過程中的重要組成部分。

半導體和醫療保健行業，以及空間和量子計算行業的爆炸式增長，增加了全球對氦的需求。

在美國，氦是從得克薩斯州、堪薩斯州和俄克拉荷馬州的油井中提取的。德州是聯邦氦儲備的所在地。美國是全球最大的氦生產國，約占全球供應量的40%。

不幸的是，位于得克薩斯州阿馬里洛市的美國國家氦儲備(National Helium Reserve)——過去70年里世界上最大的氦氣來源——幾乎耗盡，而且看不到替代品。

需求增長

與其他大宗商品一樣，多年來，氦氣一直在經歷盛衰交替的周期。

然而，長期前景大多看漲，全球氦氣市場預計將從2019年的106億美元增長到2023年的157.3億美元，復合年增長率為11%。

目前主要關注的是非烴氦氣的生產以及氦氣含量低于0.6%的氣田的生產。目前，英國和加拿大共有5個氣田可以從非烴源中生產提升級、氣態5.0級氦氣或液氦。

全球市場上主要的氦氣生產商有：

Airgas

液化空氣公司

林德集團

梅塞爾集團

空氣化工產品公司

俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司

Gulf Cryo

馬西森

埃克森美孚

普萊克斯

裘寅 編譯自 油價網

原文如下：

A Global Helium Shortage Is Now Looming

The so-called ‘noble’ or ‘inert’ gases such as helium, argon, neon, xenon, and krypton frequently tend to be confined to niche markets. But whereas their stable structure renders them mostly unreactive in many chemical reactions, rare gases are anything but inert in our economies. To wit, helium, the second most abundant element in the universe behind only hydrogen, is a vital resource with several modern-day applications in microchip manufacture, hybrid air vehicles, helium-filled hard drives, and space exploration among others.

Helium has traditionally been used in lighter-than-air balloons thanks to the gas being 7x lighter than air and far less reactive than hydrogen, the lightest element in the universe.

Here on our planet, helium is in a much shorter supply, at only 5.2 ppm by volume in the atmosphere making it the second most rare freely-occurring gas in our atmosphere.

Helium is mostly produced from natural gas thanks to higher-than-average concentrations in several natural gas locations in the United States.

Most terrestrial helium on our planet is the result of natural radioactive decay of heavy radioactive elements. However, a Canadian company by the name of Desert Mountain Energy Corp. (TSX-V:DME,OTCQX:DMEHF,Forum) plans to explore for helium in east-central Arizona near Holbrook, the so-called “the Saudi Arabia of helium’’ one of the world’s richest fields.

However, as demand has increased, companies have been aggressively ramping up helium exploration in the U.S--including northern Arizona.

There are now only 14 plants in the world that refine helium.

Dwindling helium supply

Helium’s unique properties make it an essential component in cryogenics, shielding, leak detection, heat transfer, and analytical and lifting applications. At a melting point of -261.1°C (-429°F), helium has the lowest melting point of any element, meaning there’s no substitute for the gas where ultra-low temperatures are required. This makes helium indispensable in the study of super-cold conditions. Helium is also a critical component in the manufacturing process, such as MRIs and semiconductor chip manufacturing.

Explosive growth in the semiconductor and healthcare industries, as well as space and quantum computing, has been increasing global demand in helium.

In the United States, helium is extracted from wells in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Texas is home to the Federal Helium Reserve. The US is the world’s largest helium producer, accounting for roughly 40% of the global supply.

Unfortunately, the US National Helium Reserve in Amarillo, Texas-- the world’s single largest source of helium over the past 70 years--is nearly exhausted with no replacements in sight.

Demand growth

As is the case with other commodities, over the years, helium has been experiencing alternating boom and bust cycles.

However, the long-term outlook is mostly bullish, with the global helium market expected to grow from $10.6 billion in 2019 to $15.73 billion by 2023, good for 11% CAGR.

The main focus right now is the production of non-hydrocarbon helium gas as well as from gas fields with helium contents lower than 0.6%. A total of five fields now produce lift-grade, gaseous Grade 5.0, or liquid helium from non-hydrocarbon sources in the UK and Canada.

Major helium players in the global market are:

Airgas

Air Liquid

Linde

Messer Group

Air Products

Gazprom

Gulf Cryo

Matheson Tri-Gas

Exxon

Praxair.