NextDecade Announces Planned Expansion for Rio Grande LNG

---

Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With shovels barely in the ground, liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer NextDecade Corporation (NASDAQ:NEXT) (Houston, Texas) said it's already planning for expansions at its emerging Rio Grande facility near the Brownsville shipping channel on the Texas Gulf Coast.

NextDecade planned for a five-train facility that would have a peak processing capacity of 3.73 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Production Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports. The company now says it is preparing for the permitting process for a sixth train and started development of trains 7 and 8.

Bechtel (Reston, Virginia) is leading overall developments for NextDecade's construction efforts. Engineering programs are accelerating at the site, though actual construction has barely begun. Construction on trains 1 and 2 is only around 10% completed.

Train 6 would be developed at an adjacent site, with the other two planned for a site outside an existing levee near Brownsville. The three new trains could add another 2.4 Bcf/d to the processing capacity from the initial five trains.

Feedstock would come largely from the Permian and Eagle Ford shale basins in Texas and New Mexico. The facility is permitted for as much as 1.3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of LNG exports per year, and NextDecade said it was preparing to file for additional permits with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) later this year for the new trains.

Progress, however, has proved difficult for the company. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last year overturned approval of the entire facility due to a lack of a suitable environmental impact statement.

NextDecade in October filed a petition for a rehearing.

"The company expects to take all available legal and regulatory actions, including appellate actions, to ensure that construction on Phase 1 will continue and that necessary regulatory approvals will be maintained to enable a positive FID (final investment decision) on Trains 4 and 5 at the Rio Grande LNG Facility," a statement from Friday read.

After shipping out its first exports of gas in the liquid form in 2016, the United States has since leapfrogged the likes of Australia and Qatar to establish itself as the world leader in LNG exports. Supported by some of the richest shale natural gas deposits in the world, the United States is expected to deliver an average of 14 Bcf/d in LNG on average this year.

Recent export levels, however, have surpassed that. Data from IIR Energy show that U.S. gas production averaged 104 Bcf and LNG exports were 16.1 Bcf as of Friday.

A report from the U.S. Department of Energy found 29 vessels left U.S. export terminals over the seven-day period ending February 26, carrying a combined 108 Bcf of gas in the liquid form.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).