The estimated price paid by private buyers for U.S.-produced helium rose 6.2 percent in the year ended September 2012, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Private businesses paid about $6.13 a cubic meter ($170 per thousand cubic feet), the USGS said on its website, up from $5.77 a cubic meter in the previous period. U.S. helium output rose 5.6 percent to 75 million cubic meters from the previous year, the USGS said. World helium output increased 0.6 percent to 173 million cubic meters.

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