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Also if rates of production and consumption aren't the same (not saying this is the case).

If we consume 0.1 lbs of helium for every 1.0 lb of natural gas, but only produce 0.05lbs of helium for every 1.0 lb of natural gas then the helium byproduct from natural gas is not sufficient to meet demand.



Supply will equal Demand at some price. If prices rise, some recreational use will go away.


But that might also price out plenty of much better uses for helium as well if they are less funded than those with recreational demand. A market is not always a good way to allocate resources, especially in cases like this where the use cases are so wildly different in utility


I'm not talking about price. I'm strictly referring to:

"Helium production is a byproduct of natural gas production. If we're not running out of natural gas we're not running out of helium."


You can't speak about Supply (running out) without factoring in Demand & Price. They are all linked together. Especially when the resource has recreational uses.




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