20-year deal will see NextDecade supply LNG volumes from its Rio Grande facility’s planned fourth liquefaction train
NextDecade said it has contracted a total of 4.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG from its Rio Grande Train 4 on long-term sale and purchase agreements (SPA) and that it expects the deals to enable the company to take a Final Investment Decision (FID).
Under the terms of the SPA with Total, a US subsidiary of the company, TotalEnergies Gas & Power North America, will purchase 1.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG for 20 years on a free-on-board basis, subject to a positive Final Investment Decision (FID) on Train 4.
“This SPA completes the commercial support we need for Rio Grande LNG Train 4, and we are now focused on progressing Train 4 toward a positive FID,” said NextDecade’s Chairman and CEO Matt Schatzman.
The company, which has faced significant hurdles in developing its project, said that reaching a positive FID on Train 4 will be subject to, “among other things, obtaining adequate financing to construct Train 4 and related infrastructure”.
In August 2024 alone, Texas-based LNG firm NextDecade saw a US court overturn regulatory approval for development of its LNG export facility and withdrew a proposed carbon capture and storage plan, citing a lack of “sufficient development”.
On 23 January, 2025, after President Donald Trump was inaugurated and revoked a President Joe Biden-imposed Executive Order 12898, NextDecade submitted a filing with the court claiming the issues the court based its decision on were no longer applicable.
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) also filed a letter with the court stating that “regulatory processes ‘adhere to only the relevant legislated requirements for environmental considerations” and The U.S. And on 18 March, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued a revision to its August 2024 judgment, remanding without vacatur FERC’s order for the first five liquefaction trains at the Rio Grande LNG facility.
