TotalEnergies Builds Up Eagle Ford Position to Support LNG

---

Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) (Courbevoie, France) said the acquisition of a stake in gas-producing assets in the Eagle Ford Shale will bolster its position as the top exporter of U.S.-sourced liquefied natural gas (LNG).

For undisclosed terms, the French energy major said it signed a deal to acquire a 45% stake in gas-producing assets in the Eagle Ford owned by Lewis Energy Group (San Antonio). TotalEnergies believes the assets have the potential to reach an average production rate of 400 million cubic feet per day (Mcf/d) by 2028.

"This acquisition further strengthens our upstream gas position in the United States and contributes to our integrated LNG position with a low-cost upstream gas supply," said Nicolas Terraz, the president of upstream operations at TotalEnergies.

The French company claims the pole position with exports of U.S.-sourced LNG, with more than 10 million tons in 2023 alone. Once the Rio Grande export terminal near the Port of Brownsville is completed in 2027, TotalEnergies expects its export capacity will reach 15 million tons.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Production Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects at the Rio Grande export terminal and click here for a plant profile.

NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT) (Houston, Texas) is leading developments at Rio Grande. The facility would have four trains, with infrastructure used to cool natural gas to the liquid form, and it would be able to process some 720 Mcf/d of feedstock.

Rio Grande will increase the position of the U.S. as the world leader in LNG exports, which already have surpassed those of Australia and Qatar. Over the seven-day period ending September 25, there were 22 vessels loaded with LNG that left U.S. terminals carrying a combined 83 billion cubic feet of gas.

That compares with 79 billion cubic feet during the similar week in 2023. The Cove Point LNG export terminal in Maryland was shuttered in late September for three weeks of maintenance.

Once completed, Rio Grande will be the only U.S. LNG export facility to include infrastructure to sequester the carbon emissions. NextDecade believes it will be able to store the emissions-equivalent of pulling 1 million gas-powered vehicles off the road each year.

TotalEnergies, meanwhile, already holds a 16.6% stake in the Cameron LNG facility in Louisiana, one of the busier export terminals with a processing capacity of around 1.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of feedstock. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed plant profile.

The acquisition from Lewis Energy is the second such deal this year. TotalEnergies took a 20% stake in the assets in the Dorado Field inside the Eagle Ford play, assets that were producing 50 Mcf/d this year.

The Eagle Ford is a mid-tier gas producer, churning out an average of 6.7 Bcf/d on average during the second quarter.

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) platform 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 more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).