? QatarEnergy force majeure severs global helium supply chain: QatarEnergy's declaration of force majeure on its LNG contracts confirms that the world's largest helium supply node will remain offline for an extended period. Because helium can only be produced when natural gas is being processed, the shutdown of Qatar's LNG operations has simultaneously eliminated approximately 30% of global helium production capacity. Industry analysts have projected spot price increases of 35-50% and anticipate force majeure declarations cascading through the helium distribution chain if the disruption exceeds 30-45 days.