Strait Talk on Chemicals—Explosion in Helium, S&P Points to Sulfur Prices Sticky

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Strait Talk on Chemicals—Explosion in Helium, S&P Points to Sulfur Prices Sticky

June 24, 2026 | 04:23 ET~

US Chemicals

Strait Talk on Chemicals—Explosion in Helium, S&P US Chemicals

Points to Sulfur Prices Sticky John P. McNulty, CFA Analyst

john.mcnulty@bmo.com (646) 946-8428

Bhavesh Lodaya Analyst

Bottom Line: bhavesh.lodaya@bmo.com (347) 274-1393

In this edition of Strait Talk we highlight a significant amount of news. Most notably Caleb Boehnlein Senior Associate

there has been significant progress in the U.S./Iran conflict with a growing belief that caleb.boehnlein@bmo.com (347) 906-1860

the Strait will open, sending Brent and WTI down to ~$77/bbl, $73/bbl, respectively. Margarita Margulis Associate

The Strait traffic for the week ended 6/21 is triple that of the prior week. Elsewhere, we margarita.margulis@bmo.com (332) 257-0592

see a new concern in the Helium markets with Barzan facility that feeds QatarEnergy's Legal Entity: BMO Capital Markets Corp.

Helium-3 plant suffering an explosion—while the asset was down for pipeline

maintenance since December, production from this asset may be off the market for a What's Inside

few years, and we could see delays in the Ras Laffan revamp, which could impact the Given the accelerating flow of information—

other larger helium supply source. On Sulfur, S&P Global pointed to stickiness in the from plant closures and commodity pricing to

markets with buyers and sellers at a "stalemate" as sentiment on pricing is negative, demand trends and management & industry expert

but physical shortages keep things tight. commentary—our "Strait Talk on Chemicals" series is

designed to keep pace with these rapidly evolving

Key Points developments; the report will be updated frequently