據海上工程網6月26日報道，鋰價格的上漲吸引了幾家大型油氣公司進入鋰市場。Equinor、埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)、西方石油公司(Occidental Petroleum)和斯倫貝謝(Schlumberger)等公司正在研究如何將泵送和加工的關鍵技術用于鋰的加工。

隨著世界向電氣化邁進，鋰的需求達到了新的高度，各油氣公司正在努力實現業務多樣化，以確保未來的安全。

據報道，埃克森美孚公司斥資超過1億美元購買了含有鋰的油田鹵水，而Equinor公司在2021年入股了法國鋰業公司。西方石油公司也在探索這一領域，因為它參股了鋰技術集團TerraLithium。

石油公司的大部分興趣來自開發圍繞直接鋰提取（DLE）的技術，這是一種鋰提取方法，與目前的技術相比，可以大大加快提取時間。目前的提取方法可回收約40%～60%的可用鋰，而DLE的回收率為60%～80%。然而，這項技術目前尚未得到大規模驗證，需要更多的研究和開發才能將其實現商業化。

投資于美國鋰礦技術的公司有資格通過該國的《通脹削減法案》（IRA）獲得補貼，這使得對內華達州和猶他州目前正在進行的DLE項目投資成為一項有吸引力的提議。

礦業投資基金TechMet首席執行官布萊恩·梅內爾(Brian Menell)表示，油氣公司每天使用的工業技能，使他們成為進軍鋰礦市場的理想人選。

他稱，這是石油公司的自然演變。鋰鹽是一個明顯的例子，因為與充電網絡和風力發電場不同，它們除了項目管理之外沒有其他技能，它們擅長地下泵送和流體運輸。

郝芬 譯自 海上工程網

原文如下:

Oil and gas companies rush into lithium

Rising lithium prices are luring several major oil and gas companies towards the lithium market. Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum and Schlumberger are among the companies examining how key technologies around pumping and processing could be used in the processing of lithium.

With lithium demand reaching new heights as the world moves to electrification, oil and gas companies are trying to diversify their operations to ensure their future security.

ExxonMobil reportedly spent more than $100m purchasing oilfield brines containing lithium, while Equinor took a stake in Lithium de France in 2021. Occidental is also exploring the field, as it jointly owns lithium technology group TerraLithium. 

Much of the interest by oil companies comes in hope of developing technology surrounding direct lithium extraction (DLE), a method of lithium extraction that could immensely speed up extraction times compared with current technologies. Current extraction methods recover around 40–60% of available lithium, while DLE yields recovery rates of 60–80%. However, the technology is currently unproven at scale, and more research and development is needed to bring it to commercial reality. 

Companies who invest in US-based lithium mining technologies qualify for subsidies through the country’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), making investment in DLE projects currently under way in Nevada and Utah an attractive proposition.

Brian Menell, chief executive of mining investment fund TechMet, says that the industrial skills oil and gas companies use every day make them ideally placed to move into the lithium mining market.

“It is a natural evolution for oil companies.” he remarked. “Lithium brines are an obvious one as unlike charging networks and wind farms, where they have no skills besides project management, they are skilled at subsurface pumping and fluids.”