{"id":12910,"date":"2023-11-13T16:29:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T16:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/business\/exxon-to-begin-producing-lithium-to-feed-surging-battery-demand\/"},"modified":"2023-11-13T16:29:25","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T16:29:25","slug":"exxon-to-begin-producing-lithium-to-feed-surging-battery-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910","title":{"rendered":"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description\"><span>Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=03094aeb-ac3e-4634-bf6f-22579f74faa0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>ExxonMobil plans to begin producing lithium in 2027 in a major strategic pivot, as the biggest western oil producer bets it can use its expertise in drilling and processing to become a leading player in the battery metal.<\/p>\n<p>The company said on Monday it had begun work to extract lithium from underground brines in the southern US state of Arkansas, where it has acquired the rights to 120,000 acres of land in the Smackover formation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think we\u2019re going to build a profitable and high=growth business for the long term here. So it\u2019s a big deal,\u201d said Dan Amman, head of Exxon\u2019s low-carbon solutions business, adding that the project built on the company\u2019s \u201cexisting knowhow\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re drilling wells 10,000 feet underground into these saltwater reservoirs. That\u2019s obviously directly in our wheelhouse and capability skillset,\u201d Amman said in an interview with the Financial Times. <\/p>\n<p>The move comes as the energy transition drives a surge in demand for the battery metal. The International Energy Agency has predicted consumption could increase by a factor of more than 40 between 2020 and 2040, on the back of rapid growth in the use of lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles and energy storage. <\/p>\n<p>Exxon \u2014 which has faced criticism that its low-carbon spend is dwarfed by its outlay on future oil and gas production \u2014 did not say exactly how much it would invest in the new business, which will be branded Mobil Lithium. Amman said the investment would \u201cramp up into the billions over time\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>Last month the company announced a $60bn deal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources, the biggest oil producer in Texas, in a move analysts described as a doubling down on fossil fuels. <\/p>\n<p>Exxon\u2019s shift into lithium is the first by an oil supermajor. Koch Industries, Occidental Petroleum and Norway\u2019s Equinor have been exploring a move into the battery metal. <\/p>\n<p>The company is betting that its expertise in drilling, pumping and processing oil and gas will give it a competitive advantage in lithium produced from salty\u00a0brines.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While European oil majors including BP and Shell have developed sizeable wind and solar businesses, Exxon and US rival Chevron have resisted calls to move into renewables, arguing they lack core capabilities in the area.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, any clean energy spending they have made has been focused on technologies more closely related to their traditional businesses. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have, since the very beginning, stayed focused on what I\u2019d say is the molecule side of the equation \u2014 in carbon capture and hydrogen and biofuels,\u201d Exxon chief executive Darren Woods told analysts recently. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cLithium \u2014 and production of lithium from brine water \u2014 is\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009really an extension of a lot of the current capabilities that we have in our upstream.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The returns on lithium projects are also higher than renewables and more in line with oil and gas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Most lithium today is extracted either by mining and crushing ore-bearing rocks \u2014 largely in Australia \u2014 or by pumping brine out of underground reservoirs and using huge ponds to separate out the lithium through evaporation \u2014 largely in South America. <\/p>\n<p>Exxon plans to use a novel method known as direct lithium extraction, or DLE, in which it will drill into deep saltwater reservoirs, pump out brines and use chemical processes to separate out the lithium before reinjecting the water underground. <\/p>\n<p>Goldman Sachs has said DLE could have a revolutionary impact on lithium production comparable with the US shale boom, speeding up the process from months to days with vastly improved recovery rates versus traditional brine extraction. But it remains unproven at scale.<\/p>\n<p>Exxon said it planned to begin commercial output by 2027 and increase production to supply enough lithium for 1mn electric vehicles \u2014 or about 100,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent \u2014 a year by 2030. <\/p>\n<p>Amman said the company intended to compete with the world\u2019s biggest players on scale. \u201cWe see this as a big opportunity. We wouldn\u2019t go into it unless we intended to play a major role in it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Additional reporting by Harry Dempsey in Singapore<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/03094aeb-ac3e-4634-bf6f-22579f74faa0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. ExxonMobil plans&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12910","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand | inFundPros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.ExxonMobil plans to begin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand | inFundPros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.ExxonMobil plans to begin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"inFundPros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-wall.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Press Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Press Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Press Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff\"},\"headline\":\"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910\"},\"wordCount\":701,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910\",\"name\":\"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand | inFundPros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.ExxonMobil plans to begin\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/\",\"name\":\"Fintech Advance\",\"description\":\"Latest Finance and Tech News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Fintech Advance\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png\",\"width\":409,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Fintech Advance\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff\",\"name\":\"Press Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Press Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand | inFundPros","description":"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.ExxonMobil plans to begin","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand | inFundPros","og_description":"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.ExxonMobil plans to begin","og_url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910","og_site_name":"inFundPros","article_published_time":"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-wall.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Press Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Press Room","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910"},"author":{"name":"Press Room","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff"},"headline":"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand","datePublished":"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910"},"wordCount":701,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910","name":"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand | inFundPros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-13T16:29:25+00:00","description":"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.ExxonMobil plans to begin","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=12910#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Exxon to begin producing lithium to feed surging battery demand"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/","name":"Fintech Advance","description":"Latest Finance and Tech News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization","name":"Fintech Advance","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png","width":409,"height":70,"caption":"Fintech Advance"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff","name":"Press Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png","caption":"Press Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/infundpros.com"],"url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?author=1"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}