NextDecade Corp has secured a third buyer for the planned fifth train of the under-construction Rio Grane LNG after ConocoPhillips signed up for one million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) over 20 years.
“NextDecade has now announced a total of 4.5 MMtpa of LNG from train V sold under 20-year LNG SPAs [sale and purchase agreements], which it believes is sufficient to support a positive FID on train V”, the Houston, Texas-based LNG developer said in a statement on its website.
Subject to securing financing, NextDecade expects to reach a positive final investment decision (FID) in the fourth quarter.
The supply for ConocoPhillips will be delivered on a free on board basis at a price indexed to Henry Hub.
“We’re excited to help move this project closer to FID while advancing our global LNG portfolio strategy and 10 to 15 MMtpa offtake ambition”, ConocoPhillips chief commercial officer Khoa Dao said in a separate statement. “We continue to build scale and diversification, adding supply and sales points offering further optionality for optimization”.
Just last month ConocoPhillips said it had signed an agreement to buy four MMtpa over 20 years from Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG phase II project in Jefferson County, Texas. ConocoPhillips had already committed to five MMtpa over 20 years from the under-construction phase I, from which it has also agreed to acquire a 30 percent equity stake.
For Rio Grande LNG train V, the other two offtakers are Japan’s JERA Co Inc (up to two MMtpa) and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based EQT Corp (1.5 MMtpa).
NextDecade expects to make a FID before the expiry of a newly revised price validity period for the engineering, procurement and construction contract it had awarded to Bechtel Energy Inc. The price validity period has been extended to November 15.
NextDecade currently expects total costs for Rio Grande LNG train V and related infrastructure to reach around $6.7 billion.
“Subject to obtaining adequate financing, NextDecade also continues to expect to achieve a positive FID on Rio Grande LNG train IV by September 15, 2025”, NextDecade said. Train IV had already completed “commercialization”.
Rio Grande LNG’s phase I, which consists of trains I to III, is under construction. NextDecade announced a FID on phase I in July 2023, earmarking $18.4 billion then. The project had been planned to have a carbon capture component. However, NextDecade said August 2024 it had withdrawn its permit application to build the emissions mitigation component.
Trains I to V each have a planned capacity of 5.4 MMtpa. Rio Grande LNG holds a Department of Energy (DOE) permit to export 1.32 trillion cubic feet a year of natural gas equivalent, or 27 MMtpa of LNG according to NextDecade, to FTA and non-FTA countries until 2050. DOE granted authorization through orders first issued – later amended – August 2016 for the portion for countries with a free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. and February 2020 for the non-FTA portion.
Last July the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it had issued a final supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for Rio Grande LNG and the associated pipeline project owned by Enbridge Inc.
FERC’s ongoing review includes the first five of eight liquefaction trains planned for Rio Grande LNG.
Meanwhile the Rio Bravo Pipeline is designed to carry up to 4.5 billion cubic feet a day of gas from the Agua Dulce supply area to the liquefaction facility.
The new SEIS is in response to a remand by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, issued August 2024, of FERC’s reauthorization of the projects. In the August 2024 order the court vacated FERC’s authorization issued April 2023 because the commission had not issued a supplemental EIS. The August 2024 ruling was the court’s second remand for the project.
In March 2025 the court revised its August 2024 ruling and issued a remand without vacatur.
In a statement about the new SEIS, NextDecade said August 1, “FERC anticipates issuing a final order on the remand by November 20, 2025”.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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