Huh, the video does mention they were in the process of privatizing it (at around 4:10 [1]) planning to be "stepping out of the helium activity and transferring it to private entities" by 2021 (guess it got delayed due to COVID?).

The Wikipedia page for the Helium Act of 1925 [3], which created the National Helium Reserve, does mention USA was the only important source of helium at the time, and amongst other things the act banned Helium exports. Given the rarity of Helium, this sounds like a good idea.

This privatization effort seems to be part of the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 [2], passed under Bill Clinton, and I couldn't quickly find any reasoning for its implementation (perhaps I'm not Googling the right question?). I wonder why they decided it'd be better to privatize it, considering the USA (at least as of 2018) still accounted for over half of worldwide helium exports [4]. It does still sound like a strategic and rare resource worth keeping under tight control, IMO.

[1] https://youtu.be/mOy8Xjaa_o8?si=hMt24B9FMyy-TSBI&t=250

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_Privatization_Act_of_19...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_Act_of_1925

[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235248472...