- ExxonMobil has announced plans to produce lithium for electric vehicle batteries by 2027.
- The oil giant is drilling for lithium in Arkansas after purchasing 120,000 acres of land in a geological location called the Smackover Formation.
- Exxon aims to provide enough metal to support the manufacture of 1 million electric cars annually by 2030.
ExxonMobil Corp. announced Monday that it aims to become a leading producer of lithium for electric vehicle batteries through a drilling operation launched by the oil giant in Arkansas.
Exxon earlier this year purchased 120,000 acres of a geological site in southern Arkansas called the lithium-rich Smackover Formation.
The company will begin producing battery-grade lithium at the site by 2027, and aims to provide enough of the metal to support the manufacture of 1 million electric cars annually by 2030.
Exxon said in a statement that discussions with potential customers such as electric vehicle and battery manufacturers are continuing.
The lithium operation comes at a time when major oil companies are under pressure to address climate change. While Shell and BP have focused on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy, Exxon is investing $17 billion until 2027 to reduce emissions with a focus on carbon capture, hydrogen and biofuels.
“Lithium is essential to the energy transition, and ExxonMobil has a leading role to play in paving the way to electrification,” Dan Ammann, president of Exxon’s low-carbon solutions business, said in a statement.
Exxon is deploying drilling techniques used in oil and gas extraction to access lithium-rich brine reservoirs located 10,000 feet underground. The lithium is separated from the salt water and turned into a battery-grade material on site, according to the company.
Demand for lithium batteries is expected to rise sixfold in the United States by 2030 as the country transitions to electric vehicles, according to a February report from Bridge mea battery industry group backed by the Department of Energy.
The United States relies heavily on imports from Argentina and Chile to meet its lithium needs despite having some of the world’s largest deposits of the metal, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. US Geological Surveyy. The United States currently has only one commercial-scale lithium production operation, in Nevada.
The lithium battery was invented by an Exxon research scientist in the 1970s, but the oil giant ultimately did not pursue the technology.
