NextDecade Texas Rio Grande LNG Train 1 on track for late 2027 completion

May 10 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company NextDecade said the first phase of its Rio Grande project in Texas remained on budget and on schedule for substantial completion of three liquefaction trains from late 2027 to late 2028/early 2029.

The company said in its first quarter earnings presentation late on Thursday that the estimated capital cost of the first 17.6-million tonnes per annum (MTPA) phase of the project remains $18.0 billion.

In addition to the first three-train phase of the project, NextDecade CEO Matt Schatzman said in the earnings release that the company was "focused on achieving a positive FID (final investment decision) on Train 4 in the second half of this year."

"We expect TotalEnergies to exercise its option to purchase 1.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Train 4, and commercial discussions are progressing well with numerous additional counterparties for the remainder of the LNG necessary to support a positive FID on Train 4 this year," Schatzman said.

French oil major TotalEnergies holds a 16.7% economic interest in the first phase of the project with a roughly $1.1 billion commitment, according to NextDecade's presentation.

Other equity joint venture partners include project sponsor NextDecade with up to a 20.8% economic interest and roughly $283 million commitment.

The remaining 62.5% economic interest is held by project advisers infrastructure fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners with about $3.5 billion committed, Singaporean sovereign investor GIC with $750 million committed and Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala Investment with $500 million committed.

In addition to TotalEnergies, which has agreed to buy 5.4 MTPA of LNG from the first three-train phase of the project, several other energy companies have also agreed to buy LNG from Rio Grande.

These buyers include units of Shell at 2.04 MTPA, Guangdong Energy Group at 1.00 MTPA, ENN Natural Gas at 2.00 MTPA, ENGIE at 1.75 MTPA, China Gas Holdings at 1.00 MTPA, ExxonMobil at 1.00 MTPA, Galp Energia SGPS at 1.00 MTPA and Itochu at 1.00 MTPA.

The total proposed Rio Grande project includes five 5.4-MTPA liquefaction trains capable of turning about 3.6 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas into about 27 MTPA of LNG. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by Bill Berkrot)