A U.S. court has overturned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) authorization for NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG project for not issuing a supplemental environmental impact statement, the company said on Tuesday.
The facility has been in development for several years, suffering repeated delays, and phase 1 is now expected to reach completion by early 2029 at an expected cost of about $18 billion.
NextDecade said it was “disappointed in the court’s decision and disagrees with its conclusions.”
“At this time, construction continues on the first three liquefaction trains and related infrastructure (Phase 1)” the company said, adding it “is evaluating the impact of the court’s decision on the timing of a positive final investment decision (FID) on Train 4”.
Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) acquired an 11.7% stake in phase 1 of the project and NextDecade signed a non-binding agreement with Saudi Aramco to supply 1.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG for 20 years.
NextDecade was planning to start the construction of the fourth liquefaction train in the second half of 2024 after the FID.
(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)