Messer Americas has said that fellow industrial gas giant Air Products could deprive numerous third parties’ access to privately-owned helium stored at the Federal Helium System.
This comes as Messer Helium Cliffside LLC (MHC) has been granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the shutdown of the former Federal Helium System that it recently acquired from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Read more: Messer finalises purchase of Federal Helium Reserve
Prior to the temporary restraining order, the BLM’s lease of the crude helium enrichment unit (CHEU) from Cliffside Refiners Limited Partnership (CRLP) was set to expire on 11th August.
The CHEU is the central piece of machinery that extracts and processes helium from the Helium System.
Without an extension, Messer could have been forced to shut down the BLM system, removing a large amount of product from the market.
‘Unable to reach a commercial solution’
Messer and the Cliffside Refiners Limited Partnership (CRLP) must return to court later this month (23rdAugust), when it will be decided if a preliminary injunction will be granted to give Messer time to negotiate a new lease with the CRLP.
Two of the three CRLP partners support Messer’s continued access to the Crude Helium Enrichment Unit (CHEU) but MHC said in a statement it has not been able to reach a reasonable commercial solution with Air Products, the third partner.
“By impeding MHC’s ability to operate the CHEU, Air Products could deprive numerous third parties’ access to their privately-owned helium stored in the system,” it added.
Air Products has previously raised concerns about the impact of the Federal Helium Reserve, having filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas requesting to enjoin the US Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the GSA from proceeding with the sale.
Read more: Air Products lawsuit seeks delay to Federal Helium System sale
At the time, private industry, which collectively has a large quantity of crude helium stored in the BLM and operates four helium-refining facilities that rely on the BLM system for delivery of feedgas, had been lobbying to postpone or cancel the asset sale.
However, even with Messer’s ownership of the system confirmed, there still seems to be friction between the partners, which could impact the wider market, says Messer.
The restraining order granted by the 108th District Court in Amarillo, Texas, on 7th August has temporarily averted disruption to the domestic helium supply chain. The court’s decision later this month will be crucial for future operations and negotiations.
MHC said it ‘welcomes the opportunity’ to explain to the Court at the upcoming hearing why its continued access to the CHEU is critical to protect the stability of the domestic helium market and the needs of helium users in several major industrial sectors.
Chris Ebeling, Executive Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Messer Americas, noted the importance of helium for many critical industries that this could impact. “Without helium, MRI machines cannot run, semiconductor chips cannot be made, and space rockets cannot launch. Not to mention national defence, and economic security could be impacted, as the largest foreign suppliers of helium (Qatar and Russia) are subject to disruption by geopolitical events and trade restrictions.”
gasworld has reached out to Air Products for comment and is awaiting a response.
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