Eni invests $225 million in Chile lithium project via EnergyX

Eni gains technical role, board seat in Chile lithium venture

Italian energy company Eni has acquired a 25% stake in the Black Giant lithium project in northern Chile from U.S. startup Energy Exploration Technologies for $225 million, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal published Monday. The deal gives Eni rights to up to a quarter of future production from the project and a seat on Black Giant’s board of directors.

The investment secures a supply of lithium carbonate for Eni’s planned battery plant in southern Italy at a time when global demand for the critical mineral is forecast to rise sharply. The purchase comes three-and-a-half years after Eni’s venture arm first took a stake in the Austin-based startup during a funding round led by General Motors.

The Black Giant project, located in Chile’s Antofagasta region near the Salar de Punta Negra salt flat, is designed to produce up to 52,500 metric tons of lithium carbonate annually once its first two stages are complete in 2030. The first phase, targeting 7,500 tons per year, is expected to enter production in 2028.

EnergyX founder and CEO Teague Egan said the investment rounds out the funding needed for development, after EnergyX received a letter of interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank for $690 million in project finance support. EnergyX estimates it will cost about $820 million to build the project’s first two stages. Egan said the project could potentially be expanded further in the future.

“This is the defining moment for EnergyX,” he said.

Eni said it will play a significant technical and operational role at Black Giant, contributing expertise in well development, brine production, and processing of lithium-rich brine into lithium products. Under the deal, Eni will also receive a seat on the project’s board.

“This transaction is in line with Eni’s strategy to diversify its supply chains, strengthening its entry into the critical-minerals value chain through a partnership in a significant and innovative lithium project located in a strategic region,” Eni said in a statement. Clara Andreoletti, chief executive of Eni’s venture arm, described the investment as important.

Guido Brusco, Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, said the project shares similarities with oil and gas operations. “The project shares many similarities with upstream operations, drawing on core subsurface, drilling and production expertise,” Brusco said.

EnergyX will use its own direct lithium extraction technology at Black Giant, a technique that the International Energy Agency has said could transform lithium production. The approach aims to extract lithium more efficiently than traditional evaporation-based methods common in Chile’s salt flats.

Eni has been working to diversify beyond oil and gas by investing in markets tied to cleaner energy. Through a joint venture with Seri Industrial, Eni aims to produce over 8 gigawatt-hours of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries annually and capture more than 10% of the European stationary battery market. In May, Eni closed a $70 million investment in Canada’s Nouveau Monde Graphite, which is developing operations to produce graphite materials, another critical battery component.

Other oil companies including Exxon Mobil and Chevron have also taken steps to enter lithium production in recent years. Traditional energy companies are considered well-positioned for lithium extraction because the process of pumping brines from underground uses techniques similar to oil and gas drilling.

After a sharp downturn in lithium prices over recent years, prices have climbed in 2026, supported by strong demand for energy storage systems. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the global lithium market could reach roughly $35 billion in value by 2030, up from about $5.6 billion in 2018, and could reach $90 billion by 2036 based on the firm’s demand and price forecasts.

The U.S. has been seeking to secure its own lithium supplies and reduce dependence on China, which dominates the battery supply chain. Egan said EnergyX has worked closely with U.S. officials to ensure lithium from Black Giant “supports secure U.S. and allied supply chains.” He said EnergyX has already agreed to some additional offtake deals for future production from the project but declined to provide details, citing confidentiality.

EnergyX acquired the rights to extract lithium from more than 100,000 acres near the Salar de Punta Negra salt flat in late 2023. The company has conducted nearly 10,000 hours of pilot-plant operations testing the brines and is about to commission a demonstration plant with a capacity of 170 tons per year, Egan said.

The project still requires a special state permit known as a CEOL and environmental approval. Egan said EnergyX aims to have those in place by the middle of 2027.

EnergyX also has projects in development in the Smackover Formation, a brine-filled geologic feature stretching from Texas to Florida, and near Utah’s Great Salt Lake. The U.S. Army recently awarded the company a long-term lease to refine lithium at the Red River Army Depot in Texas, part of the Trump administration’s push to strengthen domestic critical-minerals supply chains.