Standard Lithium JV gets $1.1 billion in funding interest for Arkansas project

Adds context throughout, updates stock in paragraph 4

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Smackover Lithium, a joint venture between Standard Lithium SLI.V and Equinor EQNR.OL, said on Tuesday it had attracted more than $1 billion in financing interest for its Arkansas lithium project.

Three export credit agencies, including the U.S. Export-Import Bank (ExIm) and Export Finance Norway, have expressed an interest in providing debt financing for the project, the companies said. They did not provide the name of the third.

Reuters reported last month that the project was in final talks with several banks and governments for $1 billion in funding.

U.S.-listed shares of Standard Lithium rose 3% in morning trade.

The joint venture is seeking up to $1.1 billion in senior secured debt to cover most of the $1.45 billion cost of building the first phase of the project, which has support from several members of Congress and the Trump administration.

The financing would include loans and guarantees from the export credit agencies, as well as additional debt from commercial banks.

Arkansas sits atop the Smackover, an underground geological formation stretching from Florida to Texas filled with salty brines containing more than 5 million metric tons of lithium, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The project would require still-unproven direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology to be successful.

Earlier this year, Standard Lithium received a $225 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, giving the company a boost as it competes with Exxon Mobil XOM.N to become the first lithium producer in Arkansas, which holds one of North America's largest deposits of the battery metal.

Formed in May 2024, the joint venture is developing several direct lithium extraction projects in southwest Arkansas and east Texas, with Standard Lithium owning 55% and operating the projects and Equinor holding the remaining 45%.

(Reporting by Sumit Saha in Bengaluru and Ernest Scheyder in Houston. Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Mark Potter)

((ernest.scheyder@thomsonreuters.com; X: @ErnestScheyder; +1-469-691-7667; Reuters Messaging: ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))