ExxonMobil names new partner to bolster US lithium supply chain with offtake agreement

ev supplies en route

LG Chem’s Tennessee cathode plant, which began construction in December 2023, is designed for an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons and provides strategic geographic access for customer deliveries and raw material imports. Rendering via ExxonMobil

Spring-headquartered ExxonMobil Corp. has announced a new MOU for an offtake agreement for up to 100,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate.

The agreement is with LG Chem, which is building its cathode plant in Tennessee and expects it to be the largest of its kind in the country. The project broke ground a year ago and expects an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons. The lithium will be supplied by ExxonMobil.

“America needs secure domestic supply of critical minerals like lithium,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says in a news release. “ExxonMobil 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.”

The industry currently has a lithium supply shortage due to the material's use in electric vehicle batteries and the fact that most of production happens overseas.

“Building a lithium supply chain with ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest energy companies, holds great significance,” Shin Hak-cheol, CEO of LG Chem, adds. “We will continue to strengthen LG Chem’s competitiveness in the global supply chain for critical minerals.”

Per the release, the final investment decision is still pending.

Earlier this year, Exxon entered into another energy transition partnership, teaming up with Japan’s Mitsubishi to potentially produce low-carbon ammonia and nearly carbon-free hydrogen at ExxonMobil’s facility in Baytown.

Last month, the company announced it had signed the biggest offshore carbon dioxide storage lease in the U.S. ExxonMobil says the more than 271,000-acre site, being leased from the Texas General Land Office, complements the onshore CO2 storage portfolio that it’s assembling.

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The offshore site is adjacent to a CO2 pipeline network that ExxonMobil acquired in 2023 with its $4.9 billion purchase of Plano-based Denbury Resources. Photo via ExxonMobil.com

ExxonMobil signs biggest offshore CCS lease in the U.S.

big deal

Spring-based ExxonMobil continues to ramp up its carbon capture and storage business with a new offshore lease and a new CCS customer.

On October 10, ExxonMobil announced it had signed the biggest offshore carbon dioxide storage lease in the U.S. ExxonMobil says the more than 271,000-acre site, being leased from the Texas General Land Office, complements the onshore CO2 storage portfolio that it’s assembling.

“This is yet another sign of our commitment to CCS and the strides we’ve been able to make,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says in a news release.

The offshore site is adjacent to a CO2 pipeline network that ExxonMobil acquired in 2023 with its $4.9 billion purchase of Plano-based Denbury Resources.

Ammann told Forbes that when it comes to available acreage in the Gulf Coast, this site is “the largest and most attractive from a geological point of view.”

The initial customer for the newly purchased site will be Northbrook, Illinois-based CF Industries, Forbes reported.

This summer, ExxonMobil sealed a deal to remove up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 each year from CF’s nitrogen plant in Yazoo City, Mississippi. CF has earmarked about $100 million to build a CO2 dehydration and compression unit at the plant.

A couple of days before the lease announcement, Ammann said in a LinkedIn post that ExxonMobil had agreed to transport and annually store up to 1.2 metric tons of CO2 from the $1.6 billion New Generation Gas Gathering (NG3) pipeline project in Louisiana. Houston-based Momentum Midstream is developing NG3, which will collect and treat natural gas produced in Texas and Louisiana and deliver it to Gulf Coast markets.

This is ExxonMobil’s first CCS deal with a natural gas processor and fifth CCS deal agreement overall. To date, ExxonMobil has contracts in place for storage of up to 6.7 metric tons of CO2 per year.

“I’m proud that even more industries are choosing our #CCS solutions to meet their emissions reduction goals,” Ammann wrote on LinkedIn.

ExxonMobil says it operates the largest CO2 pipeline network in the U.S.

“The most fundamental thing we’re focused on is making sure the CO2 is stored safely and securely,” Ammann told Forbes in addressing fears that captured CO2 could seep back into the atmosphere.

The off-take agreement will provide SK On with ExxonMobil's lithium produced in Arkansas. Photo via exxonmobil.com

ExxonMobil enters into off-take agreement with EV battery manufacturer

it's a deal

ExxonMobil has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with South Korean electric vehicle battery developer SK On.

The deal aims to secure a multiyear off-take agreement of up to 100,000 metric tons of MobilTM Lithium from the company’s first planned project in Arkansas. SK On will use the lithium in its EV battery manufacturing operations in the United States, which will contribute to ExxonMobil’s 2023 goal of supplying lithium for nearly 1 million EV batteries annually by 2030, and also assist in the build out of a U.S. EV supply chain.

The Arkansas project proposes an extraction of lithium from underground saltwater deposits and converting it into battery-grade material onsite. The approach will produce lithium more efficiently and with fewer environmental impacts than traditional hard rock mining, according to ExxonMobil. Consumer electronics, energy storage systems, and other clean energy technologies have all shown increased use in lithium needs.

The planned production of MobilTM Lithium will use ExxonMobil's core capabilities in drilling, subsurface exploration, and chemical processing, which should offer U.S. EV battery manufacturers a lower-carbon lithium supply option.

“The world needs more lithium to support its emissions goals, and we're doing our part to drive solutions forward in the United States,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says in a news release. “This collaboration with SK On demonstrates the leading role we play in the growing market for domestically sourced lithium, a market that’s advancing energy security and climate objectives, as well as supporting American manufacturing."

The annual production capacity of SK On in the U.S. alone is expected to reach more than 180 GWh in 2025. That production is enough to power around 1.7 million EVs per year.

“Through this partnership with ExxonMobil, we will continue strengthening battery supply chains in the U.S.,” Park Jong-jin, executive vice president of Strategic Procurement at SK On, adds.

The Houston-based executive makes the list of along with John Kerry, Bill Gates, and more. Photo via exxonmobil.com

ExxonMobil’s Low Carbon Solution president makes inaugural TIME100 Climate list

big praise

A Houston energy executive has made the cut on an inaugural ranking of top climate action leaders.

TIME magazine’s first-ever TIME100 Climate list, which highlights “100 of the world’s most influential leaders driving climate action in business,” and ExxonMobil’s president of Low Carbon Solution business Dan Ammann has made it onto the list.

“The real credit goes to the ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions team for the progress we’ve made so far,“ Amann says in a LinkedIn post. “It’s great to see the world recognizing that ExxonMobil has a major role to play in accelerating the world’s path to net zero.”

The list also includes John Kerry, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate; Bill Gates, founder of Breakthrough Energy Ventures; and others.

Some of ExxonMobil’s recent highlights include the announcement of a plan to become a leading supplier of lithium to support electric vehicles, reaching a new milestone in the volume of CO2 emissions that the company agreed to store for industrial customers along the U.S. Gulf Coast – up to 5 million metric tons per year, expanded ability to further reduce emissions by acquiring the largest CO2 pipeline network in the U.S.C, and working on building the world’s largest low-carbon hydrogen plant in Baytown, which is outside of Houston.

“It’s great to be included in this prestigious list and I’m proud of the team’s efforts to advance real solutions that will help reduce the world’s emissions,” Ammann says in ExxonMobil's news release.

He joined ExxonMobil in 2022 following a career in Silicon Valley as CEO of Cruise, as well as stops in Detroit as president of General Motors and on Wall Street when he was managing director at Morgan Stanley.

The rig stands 225 feet tall and extends 8,000 feet below the subsurface. Photo via exxonmobil.com

ExxonMobil breaks ground on Texas carbon dioxide storage project

digging in

ExxonMobil announced this month that it has officially broken ground on a groundbreaking carbon dioxide storage site.

According to a release from the company, a new rig is currently being used to gather information about an underground site in Southeast Texas. The rig stands 225 feet tall, but more importantly extends 8,000 feet below the subsurface to investigate if the site is a safe place to store carbon underground.

“Everyone’s excited about this appraisal well because we’re literally breaking ground on a new chapter of our work to help reduce industrial emissions,” Joe Colletti, who oversees carbon capture and storage development along the Gulf Coast for Exxon, says in a statement.

Exxon plans to move the rig to other sites in the Gulf Coast in the future for clients Nucor Corp., CF Industries and Linde.

In the last year, Exxon has made agreements with these regional companies to store carbon captured from their operations.

Exxon agreed to transport and permanently store up to 2.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year from Linde’s hydrogen production facility in Beaumont, Texas when it launches in 2025.
Exxon agreed to store up to 2 million metric tons per year of CO2 captured from CF Industries’ ammonia plant in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, starting in 2025.
Exxon agreed to capture, transport and store up to 800,000 metric tons per year of CO2 from Nucor’s direct reduced iron manufacturing site in Convent, Louisiana starting in 2026.

Together, the three agreements represent a total of 5 million metric tons per year that Exxon plans to transport and store for third-party customers.

“Our agreement with Nucor is the latest example of how we’re delivering on our mission to help accelerate the world's path to net zero and build a compelling new business,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says in a statement over the summer. “Momentum is building as customers recognize our ability to solve emission challenges at scale.”

In addition to the carbon storage agreements, the energy giant also completed the acquisition of Denbury Inc. this month in an all-stock transaction valued at $4.9 billion. The deal adds more than 1,300 miles, including nearly 925 miles of CO2 pipelines in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi to Exxon's CO2 pipeline network.

The deal was first announced this summer.

ExxonMobil has placed a big bet on the carbon capture market. Photo via exxonmobil.com

Newly Houston-headquartered ExxonMobil acquires carbon capture company in $4.9B deal

M&A Moves

Spring-based energy giant ExxonMobil is making a nearly $5 billion bet on its future in the carbon capture sector.

ExxonMobil announced July 13 that it has agreed to buy Plano-based Denbury, a publicly traded company specializing in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), in an all-stock deal valued at $4.9 billion. The deal’s value is based on ExxonMobil’s July 12 closing stock price — $89.45 per share.

Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, says the pending acquisition of Denbury “reflects our determination to profitably grow” his company’s low-carbon business unit.

The deal will give ExxonMobil the largest CO2 pipeline network in the U.S. at 1,300 miles, including nearly 925 miles in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, along with 10 onshore carbon sequestration sites.

Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says Denbury’s CO2 infrastructure “provides significant opportunities to expand and accelerate ExxonMobil’s low-carbon leadership across our Gulf Coast value chains.”

“Once fully developed and optimized,” Ammann adds, “this combination of assets and capabilities has the potential to profitably reduce emissions by more than 100 million metric tons per year in one of the highest-emitting regions of the U.S.”

ExxonMobil explains that CCUS — when carbon dioxide is captured and stored deep underground instead of being released into the atmosphere — is viewed as critical to meeting net-zero goals. The company forecasts the global market for CCUS will catapult to $4 trillion by 2050. Houston-based consulting firm Rystad Energy predicts total spending on CCUS projects in 2023 will reach $7.4 billion.

In addition to Denbury’s CCUS assets, the deal with ExxonMobil includes Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain oil and natural gas operations. These assets consist of reserves exceeding the equivalent of 200 million barrels of oil, with 47,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day of current production.

Directors at ExxonMobil and Denbury have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Denbury, founded in 1951, posted $1.7 billion in revenue last year, up from 36 percent from 2021.

Chris Kendall, president and CEO of Denbury, launched his oil and gas career at Mobil Oil. Mobil merged with Exxon in 1999 to form the country’s largest oil and gas company, which just made official its headquarters relocation from Irving to Spring.

ExxonMobil generated revenue of nearly $413.7 billion in 2022, making it one of the country’s biggest publicly traded companies.

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Shell launches hydrogen electrolyzer pilot and more energy news to know

Trending News

Editor's note: The new year brings big news in the energy transition sector, from Shell's hydrogen electrolyzer pilot to a maritime technology company on a mission to electrify ships. Below are the five most-read EnergyCapitalHTX stories from the second half of January 2026:

1. Shell partners with UK-based co. for hydrogen electrolyzer pilot

Supercritical Solutions' electrolyzer aims to deliver high-efficiency renewable hydrogen at a lower cost for the industrial hydrogen market. Photo courtesy Supercritical Solutions.

Shell Global Solutions International, a subsidiary of Shell, which maintains its U.S. headquarters in Houston, has signed a collaboration agreement with London-based Supercritical Solutions to advance Supercritical’s ultra-efficient hydrogen electrolyzer technology toward a field pilot demonstration. Continue reading.

2. 3 Houston-area companies named to Global Cleantech 100

Amperon, Hertha Metals and Vaulted Deep were named to this year's Global Cleantech 100 list. Photo via Getty Images

Three Houston-area companies—Amperon, Hertha Metals and Vaulted Deep—appear on this year’s Global Cleantech 100 list. The unranked list, generated by market intelligence and advisory firm Cleantech Group, identifies the 100 privately held companies around the world that are most likely to make a significant impact in the cleantech market over the next five to 10 years. Continue reading.

3. Houston maritime startup raises $43M to electrify cargo vessels

Fleetzero has raised $43 million to expand the manufacturing of its hybrid and electric marine propulsion system. Photo courtesy Fleetzero.

A Houston-based maritime technology company that is working to reduce emissions in the cargo and shipping industry has raised VC funding and opened a new Houston headquarters. Fleetzero announced that it closed a $43 million Series A financing round this month. The funding will go toward expanding manufacturing of its Leviathan hybrid and electric marine propulsion system. Continue reading.

4. Houston geothermal company raises $97M Series B

Sage Geosystems has raised a $97 million Series B. Photo via sagegeosystems.com.

Houston-based geothermal energy startup Sage Geosystems has closed its Series B fundraising round and plans to use the money to launch its first commercial next-generation geothermal power generation facility. Ormat Technologies and Carbon Direct Capital co-led the $97 million round. The new geothermal power generation facility will be located at one of Ormat Technologies' existing power plants. Continue reading.

5. Houston expert discusses the clean energy founder's paradox

Nada Ahmed. Courtesy photo

Everyone tells you to move fast and break things. In clean energy, moving fast without structural integrity means breaking the only planet we’ve got. This is the founder's paradox: you are building a company in an industry where the stakes are existential, the timelines are glacial, and the capital requires patience. Continue reading this guest column.

Expert: Why Texas must make energy transmission a top priority in 2026

guest column

Texas takes pride in running one of the most dynamic and deregulated energy markets in the world, but conversations about electricity rarely focus on what keeps it moving: transmission infrastructure.

As ERCOT projects unprecedented electricity demand growth and grid operators update their forecasts for 2026, it’s becoming increasingly clear that generation, whether renewable or fossil, is only part of the solution. Transmission buildout and sound governing policy now stand as the linchpin for reliability, cost containment, and long-term resilience in a grid under unprecedented stress.

At the heart of this urgency is one simple thing: demand. Over 2024 and 2025, ERCOT has been breaking records at a pace we haven’t seen before. From January through September of 2025 alone, electricity use jumped more than 5% over the year before, the fastest growth of any major U.S. grid. And it’s not slowing down.

The Energy Information Administration expects demand to climb another 14% in 2026, pushing total consumption to roughly 425 terawatt-hours in just the first nine months. That surge isn’t just about more people moving to Texas or running their homes differently; it’s being driven by massive industrial and technology loads that simply weren’t part of the equation ten years ago.

The most dramatic contributor to that rising demand is large-scale infrastructure such as data centers, cloud computing campuses, crypto mining facilities, and electrified industrial sectors. In the latest ERCOT planning update, more than 233 gigawatts of total “large load” interconnection requests were being tracked, an almost 300% jump over just a year earlier, with more than 70% of those requests tied to data centers.

Imagine hundreds of new power plants requesting to connect to the grid, all demanding uninterrupted power 24/7. That’s the scale of the transition Texas is facing, and it’s one of the major reasons transmission planning is no longer back-of-house policy talk but a central grid imperative.

Yet transmission is complicated, costly, and inherently long-lead. It takes three to six years to build new transmission infrastructure, compared with six to twelve months to add a new load or generation project.

This is where Texas will feel the most tension. Current infrastructure can add customers and power plants quickly, but the lines to connect them reliably take time, money, permitting, and political will.

To address these impending needs, ERCOT wrapped up its 2024 Regional Transmission Plan (RTP) at the end of last year, and the message was pretty clear: we’ve got work to do. The plan calls for 274 transmission projects and about 6,000 miles of new, rebuilt, or upgraded lines just to handle the growth coming our way and keep the lights on.

The plan also suggests upgrading to 765-kilovolt transmission lines, a big step beyond the standard 345-kV system. When you start talking about 765-kilovolt transmission lines, that’s a big leap from what Texas normally uses. Those lines are built to move a massive amount of power over long distances, but they’re expensive and complicated, so they’re only considered when planners expect demand to grow far beyond normal levels. Recommending them is a clear signal that incremental upgrades won’t be enough to keep up with where electricity demand is headed.

There’s a reason transmission is suddenly getting so much attention. ERCOT and just about every industry analyst watching Texas are projecting that electricity demand could climb as high as 218 gigawatts by 2031 if even a portion of the massive queue of large-load projects actually comes online. When you focus only on what’s likely to get built, the takeaway is the same: demand is going to stay well above anything we’ve seen before, driven largely by the steady expansion of data centers, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure across the state.

Ultimately, the decisions Texas makes on transmission investment and the policies that determine how those costs are allocated will shape whether 2026 and the years ahead bring greater stability or continued volatility to the grid. Thoughtful planning can support growth while protecting reliability and affordability, but falling short risks making volatility a lasting feature of Texas’s energy landscape.

Transmission Policy: The Other Half of the Equation

Infrastructure investment delivers results only when paired with policies that allow it to operate efficiently and at scale. Recognizing that markets alone won’t solve these challenges, Texas lawmakers and regulators have started creating guardrails.

For example, Senate Bill 6, now part of state law, aims to improve how large energy consumers are managed on the grid, including new rules for data center operations during emergencies and requirements around interconnection. Data centers may even be required to disconnect under extreme conditions to protect overall system reliability, a novel and necessary rule given their scale.

Similarly, House Bill 5066 changed how load forecasting occurs by requiring ERCOT to include utility-reported projections in its planning processes, ensuring transmission planning incorporates real-world expectations. These policy updates matter because grid planning isn’t just a technical checklist. It’s about making sure investment incentives, permitting decisions, and cost-sharing rules are aligned so Texas can grow its economy without putting unnecessary pressure on consumers.

Without thoughtful policy, we risk repeating past grid management mistakes. For example, if transmission projects are delayed or underfunded while new high-demand loads come online, we could see congestion worsen. If that happens, affordable electricity would be located farther from where it’s needed, limiting access to low-cost power for consumers and slowing overall economic growth. That’s especially critical in regions like Houston, where energy costs are already a hot topic for households and businesses alike.

A 2026 View: Strategy Over Shortage

As we look toward 2026, here are the transmission and policy trends that matter most:

Pipeline of Projects Must Stay on Track: ERCOT’s RTP is ambitious, and keeping those 274 projects, thousands of circuit miles, and next-generation 765-kV lines moving is crucial for reliability and cost containment.
Large Load Forecasting Must Be Nuanced: The explosion in large-load interconnection requests, whether or not every project materializes, signals demand pressure that transmission planners cannot ignore. Building lines ahead of realized demand is not wasteful planning; it’s insurance against cost and reliability breakdowns.
Policy Frameworks Must Evolve: Laws like SB 6 and HB 5066 are just the beginning. Texas needs transparent rules for cost allocation, interconnection standards, and emergency protocols that keep consumers protected while supporting innovation and economic growth.
Coordination Among Stakeholders Is Critical: Transmission doesn’t stop at one utility’s borders. Regional cooperation among utilities, ERCOT, and local stakeholders is essential to manage congestion and develop systemwide reliability solutions.

Here’s the bottom line: Generation gets the headlines, but transmission makes the grid work. Without a robust transmission buildout and thoughtful governance, even the most advanced generation mix that includes wind, solar, gas, and storage will struggle to deliver the reliability Texans expect at a price they can afford.

In 2026, Texas is not merely testing its grid’s capacity to produce power; it’s testing its ability to move that power where it’s needed most. How we rise to meet that challenge will define the next decade of energy in the Lone Star State.

———

Sam Luna is director at BKV Energy, where he oversees brand and go-to-market strategy, customer experience, marketing execution, and more.

New Gulf Coast recycling plant partners with first-of-kind circularity hub

now open

TALKE USA Inc., the Houston-area arm of German logistics company TALKE, officially opened its Recycling Support Center earlier this month.

Located next to the company's Houston-area headquarters, the plant will process post-consumer plastic materials, which will eventually be converted into recycling feedstock. Chambers County partially funded the plant.

“Our new recycling support center expands our overall commitment to sustainable growth, and now, the community’s plastics will be received here before they head out for recycling. This is a win for the residents of Chambers County," Richard Heath, CEO and president of TALKE USA, said in a news release.

“The opening of our recycling support facility offers a real alternative to past obstacles regarding the large amount of plastic products our local community disposes of. For our entire team, our customers, and the Mont Belvieu community, today marks a new beginning for effective, safe, and sustainable plastics recycling.”

The new plant will receive the post-consumer plastic and form it into bales. The materials will then be processed at Cyclyx's new Houston Circularity Center, a first-of-its-kind plastic waste sorting and processing facility being developed through a joint venture between Cyclix, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell.

“Materials collected at this facility aren’t just easy-to-recycle items like water bottles and milk jugs. All plastics are accepted, including multi-layered films—like chip bags and juice pouches. This means more of the everyday plastics used in the Chambers County community can be captured and kept out of landfills,” Leslie Hushka, chief impact officer at Cyclyx, added in a LinkedIn post.

Cyclyx's circularity center is currently under construction and is expected to produce 300 million pounds of custom-formulated feedstock annually.

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