Dive Brief:
- Following a legal dust-up that began in 2024, oil and gas firm NextDecade has reached financial close on Train 4 at the Rio Grande LNG Facility in Brownsville, Texas, according to a Sept. 9 news release.
- The company made a positive final investment decision on Train 4 and closed financial transactions to fully fund the train and related infrastructure and issued full notice to proceed to Reston, Virginia-based builder Bechtel, who was contracted for the job in June, according to the news release.
- The project and related infrastructure for Train 4 are projected to cost $6.7 billion, according to the news release. Of that total cost, Bechtel’s part in the construction of Train 4 will run to $4.77 billion, per the June announcement.
Dive Insight:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit originally overturned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authorization of the Rio Grande LNG project in 2024, but reversed course to undo that decision in March 2025.
Train 4 has an expected LNG production capacity of approximately 6 million tons per annum, bringing the total expected LNG production capacity under construction at Rio Grande LNG to approximately 24 MTPA.
Bechtel’s part with the Rio Grande LNG project isn’t solely limited to Train 4 — alongside that job, NextDecade also tapped the builder for work on Train 5, a contract worth $4.32 billion. Combined, this comes to approximately $9 billion for the builder. In addition, the company is also building Phase 1 of the plant, a $12 billion job that includes the first three trains.
NextDecade and its partners have completed the commercialization of Train 5 and anticipate a positive final investment decision in the fourth quarter of 2025, per the release.
“The global call for additional natural gas infrastructure continues to be strong, and we are well positioned to meet this growing demand for cleaner energy, with approximately 24 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of expected LNG production capacity currently under construction, Train 5 nearing a positive FID, and significant additional expansion capacity under development at the Rio Grande LNG site,” said Matt Schatzman, NextDecade’s CEO, in the news release.
Indeed, in the U.S., the Trump administration has taken favorable steps for large energy projects, including efforts to speed up permitting, via changes to the National Environmental Policy Act and an order to embrace technology in the federal permitting process.
With that timeline, NextDecade expects the guaranteed substantial completion date for Train 4 in the second half of 2030 and Train 5 in the first half of 2031.
