Helium Shortage Isn't a Lot of Hot Air for Popular Studio City Balloon Shop

Helium is getting tougher to find, and prices are going up, so that's causing a deflating customer base for business that depend on the gas—like the Elegant Balloons in the heart of Studio City.

Business is down by half as the helium supply is dissapating around the world. 

Helium is used by hospitals, TV manufacturers, medical supply companies and of course, balloon delaers.

Shawn Agheassi, owner of, told NBC News: "I'm surviving right now, but struggling. Years ago it was like $30 to $40 a bottle. Now it's $168. Yes, a tank. And I'm lucky if I get one or two." 

He said helium suppliers are even getting out of the business.

"I was talking to the supplier and he was crying. He said, I have a million dollar business and I don't know what to do. I don't have helium to sell it," Agheassi said.

Helium is a natural byproduct of the decay of radioactive elements. In 1996 Congress mandated that the federal government to sell off the gas from its underground reserve by the end of 2014. 

NBC News reports:

"Helium, like oil, is created by natural processes, but it's a very slow process," physicist Gregg Harry said. "So whatever is in the ground now is pretty much all that's available."