Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corp., acquired 125,000 net acres across southwest Arkansas and east Texas to enter the domestic lithium extraction market, according to a Tuesday news release.
The company acquired two leasehold acreage positions, which permit an organization to explore and harvest minerals, such as lithium, from a property. The first is from TerraVolta Resources LLC of Houston, comprising around 100,000 acres, and the other is from East Texas Natural Resources LLC of Houston, comprising around 25,000 acres.
“This formation is of particular interest due to its notably high lithium content and marks Chevron’s first step toward establishing a commercial-scale, domestic lithium business,” Chevron’s release said.
The transaction’s financial details were not disclosed, and a spokesperson from Chevron was not able to provide the exact amount of land in Arkansas that was acquired.
“We can’t disclose details regarding some of your questions, however, what I can tell you is that this investment allows Chevron to leverage strengths to safely deliver lower carbon energy to a growing world,” Allison Cook, spokesperson for Chevron, said in an email to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “It aligns with the company’s solution, scale and speed approach; we will first work on the development of the solution (DLE), demonstrate its performance and then make moves to scale, based on market conditions.”
Lithium is found in rocks and subsurface fluids called brines. Lithium-ion batteries are used in a wide variety of technology, including wireless headphones, handheld power tools, electric vehicles and electrical energy storage systems, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Chevron, according to a news release, aims to utilize an emerging technology called direct lithium extraction – a process that extracts lithium from the brine and injects the remaining fluid back into the reservoir. According to the Department of Energy, this process takes less time, has a higher recovery rate, has a smaller footprint and requires 99% less water per ton of than other lithium mining processes.
TerraVolta Resources is based in Houston and is backed by the private equity firm Energy & Minerals Group, a Houston-based firm that reportedly manages around $13 billion as of March 31. In June 2024, TerraVolta Resources announced a lithium project across Texas and Arkansas.
Chevron Corp. reported a profit of $3.5 billion for the first quarter of 2025, compared with $5.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024. According to their first-quarter report, Chevron reported the earnings decreased compared to last year primarily because of lower income from upstream and downstream equity affiliates, lower margins on refined product sales, lower realizations, and unfavorable swings in tax items and foreign exchange effects.
Competing companies Standard Lithium, operating near El Dorado, and ExxonMobil, operating near Magnolia, have already entered the Natural State’s lithium market. However, after months of debate, the Arkansas Oil & Gas Commission unanimously voted on May 28 to set a royalty rate of 2.5% for lithium extracted from brine.
Jeff Gustavson, president of Chevron New Energies, said in Chevron’s news release that the acquisition represents a strategic investment to support energy manufacturing and expand U.S.-based critical mineral supplies.
“Establishing domestic and resilient lithium supply chains is essential not only to maintain U.S. energy leadership,” Gustavson said, “but also to meet the growing demand from customers.”
