Occidental Petroleum is picking up leases in Arkansas to expand its burgeoning lithium extraction business, potentially including its joint venture (JV) with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Speaking at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, Hollub confirmed to Energy Intelligence that Oxy has picked up leases in Arkansas, but has yet to act on them. Oxy holds 100% interest in the leases, but Berkshire’s BHE Renewables has an option on the development if they move ahead.

Earlier this year, Oxy’s TerraLithium subsidiary formed a JV with BHE Renewables to extract lithium from geothermal brine by California’s Salton Sea. Berkshire Hathaway is also Oxy’s largest shareholder with a nearly 29% stake in the company.

In an October sit-down interview with Oil and Gas Investor, Hollub said Oxy is eager to advance its lithium business in Arkansas and beyond, particularly in concert with oil and gas production.

“What we’re doing first with Berkshire in the Salton Sea is we’ve already tested our technology there. It works. Our view and plans are to ultimately expand TerraLithium’s technology beyond the Salton Sea to places like Arkansas and places internationally. There are lots of waters around the world where you can get lithium. We think that this is just the first step for us to start broadening that out,” Hollub said.

Oxy saw that as a core competence because, “when you combine the brine water that our chemicals business uses with the brine that we produce as a part of our oil and gas operations, we probably are one of the largest handlers of brine in the U.S.,” she added.

She contended that Oxy investing in direct lithium extraction (DLE) will help lower the costs for lithium in the U.S., reduce foreign reliance and extract lithium in a more environmentally friendly manner than in other countries.

“We’re trying to provide a solution to getting lithium out of brine water. It’s a great source to create what we need to provide for the batteries,” she said.

Lithium is a key component in batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), consumer electronics, energy grid storage and much more.

In California, the JV with BHE Renewables’ Imperial Valley geothermal facility demonstrates the feasibility of using lithium extraction in an environmentally safe manner. If successful, BHE plans to build lithium production facilities in California’s Imperial Valley.

Exxon pioneers Arkansas

From an oil and gas producer’s perspective, Exxon Mobil has taken the lead on lithium extraction in Arkansas thus far.

Southern Arkansas’ Smackover formation was the site of Exxon’s first lithium drilling campaign.

Earlier in November, Exxon signed a multiyear, non-binding offtake deal to supply South Korea’s LG Chem with up to 100,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate, a key ingredient for lithium-ion batteries.

Exxon plans to produce lithium by utilizing DLE technology as it aims to become a leading domestic supplier. Leaning on its conventional oil and gas drilling, subsurface and exploration expertise, Exxon said it plans to drill thousands of feet below ground to access brine from which lithium will be extracted and converted into battery-grade material.

“America needs secure domestic supply of critical minerals like lithium,” Dan Ammann, president of Exxon Mobil Low Carbon Solutions, said in a news release. “Exxon Mobil is proud to lead the way in establishing domestic lithium production, creating jobs, driving economic growth and enhancing energy security here in the United States.”

As part of the nonbinding agreement announced Nov. 20, Exxon will supply lithium from its planned project to LG Chem’s cathode plant in Clarksville, Tennessee. With an expected annual production capacity of 60,000 tons, the $1.6 billion cathode manufacturing facility will be the largest of its kind in the U.S. when its first phase begins operations in 2026. The facility, located on a 1.7 million-sq m site, will produce enough cathode materials for about 600,000 EVs with a range of 500-km annually, the company has said.

LG Chem has already lined up long-term supply agreements for cathode materials with General Motors and Toyota.

In oil and gas basins, such as West Texas’ booming Permian Basin, producers also are exploring the economics of reusing produced water by treating the water and extracting lithium and other minerals.

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