Forbes Piece: US Natural Gas Gets A Boost With FERC Ruling On Rio Grande LNG

[Note: This story was also published at Forbes.com]

By a 3-1 margin, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted on April 21 to reaffirm approvals initially issued in 2019 that will allow NextDecade’s big new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility to move forward. The vote to reaffirm the decision was made necessary by an order issued 18 months ago by the District of Columbia US Court of Appeals.

In an interview on Monday, NextDecade Chairman and CEO Matt Schatzman confirmed the FERC decision now clears the way to move quickly to a final investment decision (FID) on the project. “We have publicly disclosed that we expect to make it (FID) by the end of Q2,” he says.

Schatzman went onto say that the company’s plan remains to confirm the FID for the first three trains in what would ultimately become a five-train plant. The initial three trains would be capable of processing 17.6 million tons/year of LNG.

“We have five fully permitted and approved trains now, and we plan to launch with three trains,” he says, adding, “I’d have to go back and look at history, but I don’t know if anyone’s ever done that before.” [A quick look back through the brief history of the US LNG industry shows that Cheniere Energy kicked off initial construction of its Sabine Pass facility – currently the largest in the country – with two trains. That number has since been expanded to six trains, with plans in place for future expansion. The author could find no example of any other US facility that kicked off a project with as many as three trains.]

The FERC decision was made against the wishes of a small group of non-local protesters who staged a demonstration outside the building, but Schatzman was quick to point out the strong support the facility enjoys from local leaders and the local community. “This is an exciting project and we value the open dialogue with relevant stakeholders and we’re proud of our partnerships across the region,” he says. “We’ve got a tremendous amount of bi-partisan local support, and the lion’s share of people who came to our open house a couple of weeks ago were super excited. We are supported by Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, the county commissioners, federal and state legislators and local business owners.”