Berkshire Hathaway, Occidental Form Lithium-Extraction Venture

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Last week, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (Omaha, Nebraska) and Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) (Oxy) (Houston, Texas) announced that they would team up to determine whether lithium can be extracted from geothermal brine produced at Berkshire Hathaway's geothermal power plants in California's Imperial Valley in an environmentally friendly manner.

Occidental has become a company of interest for Berkshire Hathaway's leader, famed investor Warren Buffett, who says he likes not only Occidental's oil and gas holdings, but also its explorations into energy-transition technologies such as lithium extraction and carbon capture. Buffett put his money where his mouth is, with Berkshire Hathaway increasing its stake in Occidental with the purchase of 2.6 million Occidental shares last week after agreement was in place, putting Berkshire Hathaway's total Oxy holdings at 250.6 million shares, or 28% of the company, representing nearly $15 billion at Occidental's closing price on Friday.

Occidental has developed its direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology through its unit TerraLithium. The agreement was made with Berkshire's BHE Renewables unit. TerraLithium's DLE technology, if proven successful, has potentially found a much larger market than a single plant, as BHE operates 10 geothermal plants in the Imperial Valley that can produce 345 megawatts (MW) of energy and process 50,000 of geothermal brine per minute.

Upon successful completion of the demonstration project, commercial lithium production is the next step. While estimates remain in their early days, full-scale production of up to 90,000 tons per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate equivalent could be put in place from the plant by 2029. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing by the project report.

Despite its 10 area geothermal plants in the area, Berkshire may not be done with power development in the Imperial Valley. Industrial Info is tracking three other active geothermal projects from the company in the area, construction of which could begin in 2026, making more than 300 MW of additional geothermal power available within a couple of years. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.

In addition to lithium extraction, Occidental also is pursing direct air capture (DAC) of carbon, which pulls carbon dioxide from the air directly, another reason why Buffett favors the company. The company is developing DAC sites in Texas, including at the state's famed King Ranch. At the King Ranch site, engineering, procurement and construction contractor Worley (North Sydney, Australia) is expected to turn dirt on the initial phase of development quite soon.

DAC technology can be established at any location, not just the points of source for the carbon. In this way, DAC can provide carbon capture from multiple plants. The technology is not without its drawbacks, however. It is one of the most expensive carbon-capture technologies to implement at the moment, and because it pulls carbon from more dilute sources than capturing carbon from a single source, DAC requires more energy.

The first stage of the King Ranch project is expected to be completed in 2026, ramping up to 1 million tons of carbon capture annually. Several more DAC units are potentially planned for the site after the first unit proves it efficacy. The carbon captured from the project could potentially be injected into spent wells in the Permian Basin for permanent storage. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Production Project Database can click here for more details on the project.

Occidental also is considering setting up carbon-sequestration hubs in Texas and the Lake Charles, Louisiana, area. The Lake Charles project would utilize the carbon-pipeline infrastructure established in the area by Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) (Dallas, Texas). Subscribers to Industrial Info's Terminals Project Database can learn more by viewing by the project reports on the Texas and Louisiana projects.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).