Houston-headquartered energy player NextDecade Corporation has executed a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Pittsburgh-based EQT Corporation for offtake from its project at the Port of Brownsville, Texas.
As disclosed, EQT will buy 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG from Train 5 of the Rio Grande LNG (RGLNG) project for 20 years on a free on board basis at a price indexed to Henry Hub. The deal is subject to NextDecade making a positive final investment decision (FID) on Train 5.
“We have made great strides in the commercialization of Rio Grande LNG Train 5, and today we are announcing a long-term SPA with EQT, one of the largest producers of natural gas in the United States,” said Matt Schatzman , NextDecade Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The LNG we are selling from our project to EQT will play a critical role in enhancing the energy security of our allies around the world.”
Furthermore, NextDecade extended the price validity period under its lump-sum turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with Bechtel Energy for Train 5 until November 15, 2025. Rio Grande LNG Train 5 and related infrastructure are now expected to cost around $6.7 billion .
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Big milestone for EQT! We’ve signed a 20-year, 1.5 MTPA of LNG deal with @NextDecadeLNG —bringing American natural gas to global markets. Energy security. Growth. A cleaner, reliable future. https://t.co/bWMSDgw9r0 #EnergyLeadership #LNG #NaturalGas #EQT pic.twitter.com/2dy3GUIyQm
Located at the Port of Brownsville in Texas, the Rio Grande LNG natural gas liquefaction and export facility has approximately 48 mtpa of potential liquefaction capacity currently under construction or in development.
Trains 4-5 are currently being commercialized, and Trains 6-8 are in development and beginning the permitting process. The site could fit up to ten liquefaction trains, which NextDecade says could potentially make RGLNG one of the world’s largest LNG production and export facilities.
Subject to obtaining financing, the company expects to complete commercialization of Train 5 in Q3 2025 and achieve a positive FID on Train 5 in Q4 2025, before the revised EPC price validity period expires. Additionally, an FID on Rio Grande LNG Train 4 is hoped to be reached by September 15, 2025.
According to NextDecade, a total of 3.5 mtpa of LNG from Train 5 has been sold under 20-year LNG SPAs, including the one with JERA from May . Before that, offtake deals for Train 4 were secured with Aramco and TotalEnergies . The company is targeting an additional 1 mtpa to support an FID on Train 5.
This comes on the heels of another 20-year offtake deal for LNG from Texas EQT inked last week. Under it, the firm will purchase 2 mtpa of LNG from Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 development project in Jefferson County, Texas.