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TotalEnergies Boosts U.S. LNG Portfolio With Rio Grande Train 4 Investment
TotalEnergies (NYSE: TTE) has secured a 10% direct stake in Rio Grande LNG’s Train 4 project in South Texas, joining partners NextDecade, Global Infrastructure Partners, GIC, and Mubadala in taking a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the 6 Mtpa expansion, set to boost the plant’s total capacity to 24 Mtpa by 2030.
The French major also holds an indirect interest of nearly 7% through its 17.1% stake in NextDecade, bringing its total exposure to the new liquefaction train to about 17%.
At the same time, TotalEnergies, NextDecade (40%), Global Infrastructure Partners (36.9%), Singapore sovereign fund GIC (7.9%), and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala (5.2%) reached a Final Investment Decision on the fourth train. The $multi-billion expansion is expected to add 6 million tons per annum (Mtpa) of liquefaction capacity, taking Rio Grande LNG’s output to about 24 Mtpa by the end of the decade. Financing will be split roughly 40% equity and 60% debt.
TotalEnergies will offtake 1.5 Mtpa from Train 4 under a 20-year contract, reinforcing its U.S. export position. Stéphane Michel, President of Gas, Renewables & Power at TotalEnergies, highlighted that the additional volumes will increase the company’s U.S. LNG export capacity to over 16 Mtpa by 2030. “It gives TotalEnergies access to competitive LNG thanks to low production costs,” he said.
The deal builds on a long-standing partnership. TotalEnergies already holds 16.7% of Phase 1 of Rio Grande LNG—three trains now under construction and expected online in 2027—and has contracted 5.4 Mtpa offtake from that phase. In addition, its equity stake in NextDecade links it directly to the project operator’s wider ambitions.
NextDecade Chairman and CEO Matt Schatzman said TotalEnergies’ expanded role underscored the project’s competitiveness and strategic importance. “LNG exported by TotalEnergies from our project will provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy to customers around the world,” he noted.
The expansion comes amid strong global LNG demand growth, with Europe seeking secure alternatives to Russian gas and Asia driving long-term consumption. For TotalEnergies—the world’s third largest LNG player with a 40 Mtpa global portfolio—the move supports its strategy to raise natural gas to nearly half its sales mix by 2030 while phasing down coal and reducing methane emissions.
With Train 4 advancing, Rio Grande LNG is set to cement its role as one of the largest LNG export hubs in North America, reinforcing the U.S.’s position as the world’s leading LNG supplier.
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