Other oil companies, including Exxon Mobil, opens new tab and Occidental Petroleum, opens new tab, plan to take advantage of emerging technologies to filter lithium from brine, as the world seeks to move away from fossil fuels.
Saudi Arabian economy for decades has relied on oil, is spending billions on trying to turn itself into a hub for EVs as part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's attempts to find alternative sources of wealth.
Saudi Aramco opens new tab and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were in the very early stages of work to extract lithium, regarded as a critical mineral by many major economies because of its use in battery manufacture.
DLE technology is in its infancy and its economics are far less certain than those of oil.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE can draw on expertise in handling oil brine and wastewater at oil production sites.
An advantage of filtering the ultra-light battery metal from salt water is that it avoids the need for costly and environmentally challenging open pit mines or large evaporation ponds, as employed in the world's leading producers Australia and Chile.
China is the biggest processor and consumer of lithium, needed for electric and hybrid vehicles.
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