ExxonMobil exec: Arkansas poised to be ‘center’ of lithium industry in North America

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

Arkansas can become the center of the lithium industry in North America, but success will require predictable and efficient regulations, fiscal competitiveness and certainty, and infrastructure, said Patrick Howarth, lithium global business manager for ExxonMobil.

“I believe that if we can do this together, we can achieve great things,” Howarth said at the inaugural Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit in Little Rock Thursday (Feb. 15). “We have the opportunity to start a new foundational industry in Arkansas, and with that [comes] significant capital investment. That leads to economic development, which means jobs and opportunities, and really, and I think why many of you are here, it’s about additional revenue – individuals, businesses, and the states.”

Howarth was one of a number of speakers on the first day of the two-day summit, which brought to Little Rock nearly 700 energy sector executives, policymakers and stakeholders to discuss the growing lithium extraction industry in south Arkansas.

ExxonMobil exec: Arkansas poised to be ‘center’ of lithium industry in North America