TotalEnergies agrees 1.5-mta offtake deal from US' Rio Grande LNG facility

NextDecade said it has contracted 4.6M tonnes per annum (mta) of LNG from its Rio Grande Train 4 on long-term sale and purchase agreements (SPA) and it expects the deals to enable the company to take a final investment decision (FID).

Under the terms of the SPA with TotalEnergies, a US subsidiary of the company, TotalEnergies Gas & Power North America, will purchase 1.5 mta of LNG for 20 years on a free-on-board basis, subject to a positive 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 chairman and chief executive Matt Schatzman. 

The company, which has faced significant hurdles in developing its project, said 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, 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Order 12898, NextDecade submitted a filing with the court claiming the issues the court based its decision on were no longer applicable.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 “regulatory processes adhere to only the relevant legislated requirements for environmental considerations".

On 18 March, 2025, 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.