What the Smackover play in southern Arkansas is to the lithium development industry, the Permian Basin might also be to the the industry that is considered to be the backbone of the global energy transition.
So claims LibertyStream, a mineral development and technology company whose goal is to be one of North America’s first commercial producers of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonates from oilfield brine. The brine is the target of lithium mining operators in Arkansas and their efforts drew substantial news coverage in the past few years.
But now LibertyStream believes the same can be said for the Permian Basin, the richest oil and gas play in the country. OilPrice.com reported the company is betting big that the “drill baby drill” era may have an unexpected side effect: a surge in lithium feedstock flowing through America’s existing oil infrastructure network.
The Permian Basin’s oil production carries more than 20 million barrels of produced water with it and the mineral-rich wastewater also contains dissolved lithium, the same as the Smackover play in Arkansas does. While more and more oil is produced in the Permian Basin in west Texas and southeast New Mexico, it also increases the volume of potential lithium feedstock.
That’s where LibertyStream wants to enter the picture because it believes instead of mining for lithium, it should take advantage of the basin’s wastewater. Unlike many direct lithium extraction companies still operating at lab or pilot scale, LibertyStream says its Gen 6 platform is already producing lithium carbonate in the field at a commercial deployment site in Texas, reported OilPrice.com.
The system was installed earlier this year at a Select Water Solutions facility in Howard County, where the company says production is now underway for technical- and battery-grade applications.
It was in April when LibertyStream Infrastructure Partners Inc. redomiciled in Texas where its headquarters are located in Dallas.Alex Wylie, President & CEO of LibertyStream declared at the time, “LibertyStream is now incorporated in the state where our leadership team is based, where our near-term operating focus is centered and where we believe we are positioned to help support the development of an American lithium supply chain. With production underway at Select’s Howard County site and our U.S. listing pathway continuing to advance, our focus remains on disciplined execution and long-term shareholder value.”
With the growth of data centers as well as the country’s EV industry, there is a booming need for lithium and the production of batteries. Adding to the need is the explosive growth of BESS or Battery Energy Storage Systems, something Oklahoma has witnessed in the requests of utilities such as Public Service Company of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company. Their BESS projects are literally massive lithium battery installations designed to help in the stabilization of electricity needed for large-scale industrial projects as well as the AI infrastructure. The BESS projects are able to store electricity in off-peak periods and release it on demand.
