Markets may be upbeat but that doesn’t mean the Gulf war’s impact is safely behind us

Of all things, helium is a key weak spot, circa 2026, in a way that would have been unimaginable during previous oil shocks. As the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada observed in a recent update, “Helium is indispensable in chipmaking, used to prevent silicon wafers from overheating and flush out toxic chemical byproducts. The risk is especially acute for Taiwan and South Korea, which rely on Qatari supply.”