TotalEnergies joins Rio Grande LNG project

TotalEnergies SE has signed a framework agreement with NextDecade LNG LLC to participate in development of its 27-million tonne/year (tpy) Rio Grande LNG (RGLNG) plant in Brownsville, Tex. TotalEnergies will hold a 16.7% interest in the first phase of the project, which consists of three liquefaction trains with total capacity of 17.5 million tpy.

TotalEnergies will offtake 5.4 million tpy of LNG from Phase 1 for 20 years, bringing its US LNG export capacity to more than 15 million tpy by 2030. It also has options to secure additional offtake from Phase 2 and participate in a carbon capture and storage project planned by NextDecade to reduce the plant’s emissions.

The first phase of RGLNG, whose final investment decision is expected by end second-quarter 2023 for start-up in 2027, will now be developed by NextDecade as shareholder and operator, Global Infrastructure Partners as majority shareholder, and TotalEnergies. The project has already received all necessary authorizations from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

NextDecade earlier this year notified the Securities and Exchange Commission of amendments to its agreements with Bechtel Energy Inc. for engineering, procurement, and construction contracts on Phase 1 of the plant. The amendments locked in agreed upon pricing until June 15, 2023, and followed NextDecade missing a deadline to issue Bechtel a notice to proceed with construction (OGJ Online, Mar. 16, 2023).