As the early phases of construction ramp up in Texas, NextDecade Corp. is plotting course for a final investment decision (FID) on an expansion of its Rio Grande LNG export facility later in the year.
Houston-based NextDecade disclosed it has secured a credit agreement with the Japanese financial giant MUFG Bank Ltd. for a $50 million revolving credit facility and a $12.5 million interest term loan.
With the additional financial backing, NextDecade said it will have “meaningful liquidity and capital resources” as it looks to finalize an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the fourth liquefied natural gas train by July.
“The company is progressing numerous discussions with potential buyers of LNG to provide commercial support for Train 4 and is targeting a positive FID of Train 4 in the second half of 2024,” representatives for the company said.
The firm has already begun the front-end engineering process for the next phase with Bechtel Energy Inc., which is currently building Rio Grande’s three-train first phase.
The Houston-based firm broke ground in Brownsville on the first three trains of the facility last month, which could add 17.6 million metric tons/year (mmty) of export capacity to the global market by 2027. The firm has placed 16.2 mmty of LNG from phase one, or around 92% of nameplate capacity, under contract.
NextDecade reached FID on the first phase in July after securing $18.4 billion in financing, making it the largest greenfield energy project financing to date. It also secured equity investments from partners in both the company and Rio Grande’s first phase, including from TotalEnergies. TotalEnergies agreed to a 5.4 mmty offtake and 16.67% equity deal for Rio Grande’s first three trains. It also has options for future equity and offtake in additional expansions.
NextDecade has estimated it could have an additional 3 mmty in offtake from each successive train at Rio Grande if Total chooses to pull the trigger on its equity options.
TotalEnergies is currently the largest trader of U.S. LNG and is the second largest LNG seller in the world. It has targeted increasing its LNG sales to 50 mmty by 2025.
NextDecade hasn’t disclosed an exact capacity for each of Rio Grande’s additional trains, but the facility has a nameplate capacity of 27 mmty. It could also incorporate a carbon capture, storage and sequestration project, which is being commercialized separately.
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