Cross-border mining! ExxonMobil is in negotiations with car companies such as Tesla to supply lithium.

According to the Zhitong Finance and Economics APP, it was reported by the media on Monday that ExxonMobil (XOM.US) is in early negotiations with car manufacturers such as Tesla (TSLA.US), Ford (F.US), and Volkswagen to provide them with lithium for electric vehicles. ExxonMobil is seeking buyer support for its foray into lithium mining and has set a target of mining 100,000 tons of lithium per year. It is said that Albemarle (ALB.US) is one of the lithium producers that ExxonMobil is negotiating with.

It is reported that ExxonMobil is exploring a lithium mine in Arkansas and has recently started drilling there, but has not yet decided whether to produce it on its own or in collaboration with other companies.

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said during last week's earnings conference call, "Dealing with brine and extracting lithium is very similar to what we do in our refineries and chemical plants, in fact, it's the same in some of our upstream businesses as well."