Equinor ASA, a Norwegian-headquartered energy company, announced on Wednesday an agreement to partner with Canadian lithium development company Standard Lithium to develop two project companies in South West Arkansas and East Texas.
Under the terms of the agreement, Equinor will initially compensate Standard Lithium $30 million in past costs. In addition, Equinor are contributing $60 million, of which Standard Lithium will receive up to $33 million in capital expenses to progress the projects, to add to $27 million for Equinor’s portion. Milestone payments of up to $70 million will be made if a final investment decision is taken by both parties.
Ownership of the two project companies will be split into 55% Standard Lithium and 45% Equinor. Standard Lithium will retain operational control. Equinor has said it’s role will be in supporting the operator with subsurface operations and project execution capabilities.
“Equinor’s culture and values align with ours in using innovation, integrity and responsible development to enable the global energy transition” said Standard Lithium’s CEO, Robert Mintak.
“Sustainably produced lithium can be an enabler in the energy transition, and we believe it can become an attractive business”, commented Morten Halleraker, Senior Vice President of Equinor.
Equinor are a multinational energy company and leaders in renewables and low carbon solutions. Standard Lithium is a near-commercial lithium development company specialising in lithium-brine projects in the US. The Projects invested in use the Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology which has a lower environmental impact than than conventional lithium mining.
