QatarEnergy eyes NextDecade Train 6 supply in latest US LNG push, sources say

By Curtis Williams and Marwa Rashad

HOUSTON/LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - QatarEnergy is in advanced talks with NextDecade to buy up to 2 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas from the company's Rio Grande LNG export facility under development in Texas, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The people said the negotiations involve volumes from Train 6, which is in the permitting process and has not yet reached a final investment decision. NextDecade has already sold out the capacity from the first five trains, the company said when it approved the projects.

Neither NextDecade nor QatarEnergy immediately responded to requests for comment.

QatarEnergy has been aggressively pursuing long-term supply deals with US LNG exporters amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as part of a trading strategy aimed at generating revenue should exports through the Strait of Hormuz be again disrupted in the future, Chief Executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi told Reuters last month.

Reuters reported in October that QatarEnergy was in talks to purchase about 3 mtpa of LNG each from Venture Global and Woodside Energy. The company has also signed a long-term sales and purchase agreement to buy 4 mtpa from Cheniere Energy.

The first five trains at NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG export facility, which is under construction near Brownsville, Texas, are expected to produce about 30 million metric tons of LNG per year when fully operational, making it one of the largest LNG export projects under development in the US.

The company filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in May for the Train 6 project and submitted an application to the US Department of Energy in June for LNG export authorizations.

NextDecade previously said commercial interest in Train 6 exceeds nameplate capacity, with a final investment decision targeted for 2027. If approved, Train 6 would be built adjacent to the first five trains and would represent the first phase of a broader expansion that could eventually include Trains 7 and 8, increasing total liquefaction capacity at the site to roughly 48 mtpa.

(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston and Marwa Rashad in London; Editing by Nathan Crooks and Cynthia Osterman)