NESR Awarded US$200 Million Lithium Extraction Demonstration Project Contract by Saudi Aramco

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 8, oilfield services company NESR signed a direct lithium extraction demonstration project execution agreement with Saudi Aramco, with a contract term of up to 5 years and a total value cap of approximately US$200 million. The project plans to adopt brine direct lithium extraction technology and build a demonstration facility with an annual production capacity of 2,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate, with commissioning and production expected to begin by the end of 2027. The project will be undertaken by NESR's Environment and Decarbonization Applications business unit (NEDA) on a turnkey basis, using its LiThara technology platform to implement brine pretreatment, lithium extraction, and lithium carbonate preparation.

Under the agreement, Saudi Aramco is responsible for providing subsurface resources and technical support related to oil and gas field development, while NESR is responsible for integrating the direct lithium extraction process and engineering implementation services. The LiThara platform adopts a modular approach, integrating lithium-bearing brine pretreatment, direct lithium extraction, and carbonation processes into a single production flow, with the project's final product being battery-grade lithium carbonate.

NEDA, the executing entity for the project, will undertake technology solution integration and project delivery tasks. In its October 8 announcement, NESR specified the demonstration facility's design output, contract term, and target production start time, but has not yet disclosed the production site, lithium concentration in the feed brine, processing capacity, electrolyte or adsorbent material configuration, lithium extraction recovery rate, or the number of supporting equipment units.

The two parties have now entered the project execution agreement stage. Subsequent work will focus on demonstration facility construction, equipment integration, commissioning, and production startup, while actual commercial output still needs to be verified after production begins.