Didn't they just sell like 80% of their reserve for pennies?

Edit: Yes, https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/us-just-sold-heli...

Sold at a discount, then it becomes critical so its value gets a premium. What a coinkydink.

After squandering the national helium reserve for years, because "lol free markets" ideology. It's crazy that we put that stuff into balloons for fun (helium is pretty abundant in the universe, but the economically viable sources are fossil).

I can smell the collusion here from a thousand miles away. Trump must go to jail

Trump kids already bought some small companies months ago, I guess

Meanwhile we vent 95% of extracted helium into the atmosphere as an inconvenient waste gas.

If it is so important, why aren't all our gas wells extracting that helium? It is hard for me to see this as a ploy for anything other than raising helium prices for the few companies that do extract helium.

In anything that helium is critical for, the helium cost is inconsequential compared to both the cost of the other equipment that uses it, and the value gained from using that equipment.

I guess this explains why it cost me $60 to fill up a handful of birthday balloons a couple of months ago.