The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has designated helium as a critical material under the Energy Act of 2020. According to the department, helium meets the statutory definition of a critical material because of its essential role in American manufacturing and its growing exposure to supply chain risks. DOE said helium’s unique properties make it indispensable to semiconductor production, with no viable substitutes in many critical applications. The department also noted that the United States has significant domestic deposits of helium-rich natural gas that can support growing industrial demand, which it presents as a basis for reducing reliance on foreign sources of critical materials.
In the announcement, Wright said helium is essential to producing the semiconductors and advanced technologies that power the US economy, and that the designation is a step toward securing supply chains and creating jobs. Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson said DOE wants American manufacturers to have reliable access to helium for technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. DOE said global demand for helium is growing faster than production, which raises supply risks for American manufacturers. It added that, despite the nation’s abundant resources, limited refining capacity and lengthy permitting timelines continue to constrain US production. The department has published a Federal Register notice on the designation, though its announcement does not set out what specific measures or funding will follow.
Helium matters to chipmakers because of the way it is used in fabrication plants. In semiconductor manufacturing it is used for wafer cooling, plasma etching, chemical vapour deposition, atomic layer deposition, lithography support, and leak detection, according to a report by The Express Tribune. The gas is not new to US critical materials policy. Helium was on the US Geological Survey’s 2018 list of critical minerals but was left out of the 2021 draft list, a decision that industry analysts at gasworld described as surprising at the time. The new designation, made by DOE under the same Energy Act of 2020 framework, therefore returns helium to the list of materials that US policy treats as strategically important.
The timing follows a turbulent year for helium supply. Industry reports say Qatar’s Ras Laffan complex accounts for roughly 30 to 38 percent of global helium output, and that the Strait of Hormuz is the sole export route for Qatari helium. These reports say supply was disrupted from March 2026 after strikes on the complex and the closure of the Strait during the conflict involving Iran, the United States, and Israel. South Korea relied on Qatar for 64.7 percent of its helium imports in 2025, according to the Korea International Trade Association, and China announced a temporary ban on helium exports on 10 July 2026. The DOE announcement does not mention these events, but they show why chip-producing economies are paying closer attention to how much helium they can secure and from where.
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