TotalEnergies has inked a 20-year offtake agreement for 1.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum from US-based NextDecade Corporation.
NextDecade will supply TotalEnergies Gas & Power North America, the French oil and gas firms’ US subsidiary, with LNG from the planned Train 4 of its Rio Grande LNG facility in Texas on a free-on-board basis.
The company originally expected to take final investment decision (FID) on the fourth train during the second half of 2024.
However, NextDecade Chairman and CEO, Matt Schatzman, said the TotalEnergies deal “completes the commercial support” for the development – taking contracted volumes up to 4.6 million tonnes per annum.
“We are now focused on progressing Train 4 toward a positive final investment decision (FID),” he added.
The delivery of LNG to TotalEnergies and other confirmed partners is subject to NextDecade achieving a positive FID on Train 4.
Earlier this month, the company signed a supply and purchase agreement with a subsidiary of Saudi oil and gas giant Aramco for 1.2 million tonnes per annum of LNG for 20 years.
The total estimated project costs for Train 4 are expected to be between $6bn and $6.2bn, including related infrastructure.
Once complete, the first phase of the Rio Grande LNG facility will have a nameplate liquefaction capacity of 17.6 million tonnes a year.
