Chevron USA Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corp., has entered the US lithium sector with the acquisition of two leasehold acreage positions from separate companies.
The leasehold position spans northeast Texas and southwest Arkansas and includes about 125,000 net acres across regions where the high-lithium content Smackover formation is present, the company said in a release June 17.
The deals mark Chevron’s first step toward establishing a commercial-scale, domestic lithium business, in which it aims to leverage its subsurface, drilling, and resource extraction capabilities, according to the release.
Chevron acquired the acreage from TerraVolta Resources LLC, Houston, whose investor is an affiliate of The Energy & Minerals Group (EMG), and from East Texas Natural Resources (ETNR) LLC.
Through the TerraVolta deal, Chevron acquired all equity interests in two TerraVolta subsidiaries that own about 100,000 net acres in east Texas and southwest Arkansas, TerraVolta said in a separate release June 17.
Future development will aim to utilize the direct lithium extraction (DLE) process, a set of advanced technologies employed to extract lithium from brines produced from the subsurface, Chevron said.
“This acquisition represents a strategic investment to support energy manufacturing and expand US-based critical mineral supplies,” said Jeff Gustavson, president of Chevron New Energies.
