U.S. liquefied natural gas producer NextDecade said on Thursday it had reached a positive final investment decision (FID) on the fifth liquefaction plant, known as a train, of its Rio Grande export project in Texas.
Shares of the company rose over 4%in extended trading, as the announcement marked the fifth positive FID for an LNG development project in the U.S. — the world's largest exporter of the superchilled fuel.
The U.S. LNG sector has seen a revival in commercial activity after President Donald Trump lifted the moratorium on new export permits for LNG shortly after taking office in January.
LNG developers typically reach an FID on projects once they have secured enough supply deals to obtain the necessary financing for construction.
Train 5 has the expected LNG production capacity of about 6 million tonnes per annum, bringing the total expected LNG production capacity under construction to about 30 MTPA at Rio Grande LNG, the company said.
The completion date for Train 5, as well as the first commercial delivery date under the Train 5 LNG deals, is anticipated to be in the first half of 2031, the company added.
Total project costs associated with Train 5 and related infrastructure are expected to be about $6.7 billion.
The company said Train 5 is commercially supported by 4.5 MTPA of 20-year agreements with JERA, EQT Corp and ConocoPhillips.
TotalEnergies TTEF.PA, which has a 17.1% stake in NextDecade, had decided not to invest in the company's Train 5, prioritizing lower-cost projects elsewhere as it reassesses its global LNG strategy, Reuters reported in August.
NextDecade in September announced positive FID for its fourth liquefaction plant in the same project in Texas, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2030.
(Reuters - Reporting by Sumit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)