Only helium plant in the southern hemisphere shuts down after exhausting its supply

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The only helium plant in the southern hemisphere located in Darwin has shut down, after its supply was exhausted. It means the gas will now need to be imported at a much higher cost.

Transcript

00:00 Most people would hear the word helium and think party balloons, but the rare gas is

00:06 also critical for medical equipment, smartphones, solar panels and even space exploration.

00:14 And now Australia's only manufacturer, situated in Darwin, has closed.

00:20 For more than a decade, BOC had been producing helium as a by-product from the gas that the

00:25 Darwin LNG plant was extracting from the Bayou Undine field, but that supply has now been

00:31 exhausted.

00:33 The Santos-owned Darwin LNG plant has also temporarily cut its operations, hoping to

00:39 pivot to the Barossa gas field, despite facing major delays and court battles.

00:45 Experts say there's little chance of a shortage, but the gas will now need to be imported from

00:50 the US at a much higher cost.

00:53 The price of helium has gotten quite high in recent years.

00:57 We've had a series of shortages since the Darwin project was first conceived.

01:03 BOC produced about 3% of the world's helium supply, and now another territory business

01:10 hopes to take over.

01:12 If we're successful, we'll be actually not just supplying the Australian market, but

01:16 also exporting helium.

01:18 Natural Petroleum is confident its existing conventional gas wells in central Australia

01:24 will be ripe with helium.

01:26 The size of the prospects could be a game changer for the helium market.

01:31 BOC was Australia's main supplier of helium, and in a statement says it's actively looking

01:37 for new gas supplies in the Northern Territory, and will continue to supply its customers

01:42 with imported helium.

01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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