U.S. liquefied natural gas producer NextDecade said on Thursday that its units have finalized contracts with Bechtel Energy to construct train 4 and train 5 at its Rio Grande LNG facility, with a combined value of about $9 billion.
Under engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts, NextDecade agreed to pay Bechtel about $4.77 billion under a renewed agreement for the fourth liquefaction train.
For the fifth train, it executed an EPC contract worth about $4.32 billion.
The company expects the pricing validity under the train 4 and train 5 contracts to extend through September 15, 2025, and it aims to achieve a positive final investment decision (FID) on train 4 before the end of the pricing validity period for its EPC contract.
LNG developers typically reach FIDs on projects once they have secured enough supply deals to obtain the necessary financing for construction.
In late May, the company signed a 20-year deal to supply Japan’s power generator JERA with 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG from the fifth liquefaction facility at its Rio Grande project.
(Reporting by Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)