NextDecade Corporation signed on Wednesday another long-term agreement for a U.S. exporter to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China in the most recent deal between American and Chinese firms.
NextDecade announced today a deal with ENN LNG (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China's ENN Natural Gas Co., Ltd, for the supply of LNG from NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG export project in Brownsville, Texas.
Under the 20-year sale and purchase agreement, ENN LNG will purchase 1.5 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG indexed to Henry Hub prices on a free-on-board basis. The LNG supply will be from the first two trains at Rio Grande LNG, with the first train expected to start commercial in 2026.
"The commercial momentum at RGLNG is accelerating and we believe the company is well placed to benefit from the strengthening LNG market," Matt Schatzman, NextDecade's chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
Assuming the achievement of further LNG contracting and financing, NextDecade anticipates making a positive final investment decision (FID) on a minimum of two trains of the Rio Grande LNG export project in the second half of this year, with FIDs of its remaining three trains to follow thereafter, the U.S. company said.
Last month, NextDecade signed a deal with another Chinese firm, Guangdong Energy Group Natural Gas Co, to supply LNG from Rio Grande LNG for 20 years.
China's ENN LNG, for its part, signed last week two 20-year agreement with Energy Transfer for LNG exports from Energy Transfer's Lake Charles LNG project.
"We are experiencing strong demand for long-term offtake contracts for Lake Charles LNG and we are optimistic that we will be in a position to take a positive FID by year end," said Tom Mason, president of ET LNG.
These deals are the latest in a series of recent long-term agreements that American LNG developers have signed with Chinese firms.
At the end of last year, Venture Global LNG signed an agreement with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), which, the U.S. firm says, will be "the largest single LNG supply deal ever signed by a US company and will double imports of US LNG to China." Sinopec will buy 4 million MTPA of LNG from Plaquemines LNG, and UNIPEC, a Sinopec subsidiary, has agreed to purchase 3.5 million tons of LNG from Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass LNG facility. Cheniere Energy also announced in November a binding long-term LNG sale and purchase agreement with Sinochem Group of China.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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