I started working in the oil and gas industry in 2000 as a Wireline Field Engineer for SLB in Egypt.  I spent the better part of the next two and a half decades helping our customers across the globe find and recover hydrocarbons.

Today, however, I find myself in a different (but no less important) role: expanding SLB’s business into critical minerals and lithium extraction.

I don’t view the transition as a move away from oil and gas but as a recognition of how the energy system is evolving.

Demand for reliable, affordable energy continues to grow, but the forms it takes are diversifying.  Lithium now sits at the heart of that change, underpinning electric mobility, battery energy storage, and other critical applications.

But the future is uncertain. Global demand for lithium is expected to grow by nearly fivefold through 2040, exceeding 5 million tons per annum. Some forecasters expect supply deficits to emerge by the mid-2030s, which could potentially hinder the global energy transition.

I’m confident we can avoid this scenario. 

Why? 

Because this new territory feels incredibly familiar.

The technical challenges of lithium extraction—subsurface uncertainty, fluid handling, process optimization, and scaling complex projects—are problems the oil and gas industry has been dealing with for decades.

Across countries where lithium deposits are being discovered, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait, national oil companies and global tech leaders like SLB have a long track record of executing mega-projects, managing water and energy at scale, and operating efficiently in demanding environments.

These strengths translate directly into lithium—especially as success increasingly depends on deep subsurface insights, advanced fluid‑system understanding, and an integrated extraction process that enables lithium to be produced efficiently and sustainably. The technologies and expertise developed over decades in the oil and gas sector uniquely position us to support this transition and enable responsible, scalable lithium production.

In fact, leading this effort has changed how I think about value creation overall.

By leveraging our existing strengths, lithium offers us diversification and resilience. It affords opportunities to participate in the next chapter of energy growth, creating revenue streams that can sit alongside our core hydrocarbon business.

I, for one, am excited about the future of this market and look forward to helping our partners across the Middle East set an example for the rest of the world with their critical mineral operations.

After all, we’ve been “here” before, right?