NextDecade, Japan's JERA sign 20-year LNG supply deal

US liquefied natural gas producer NextDecade said on Thursday it had signed a 20-year deal to supply Japan's biggest power generator JERA with two million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG from its Rio Grande project's fifth liquefaction facility.

Shares of NextDecade were up 5.2 per cent at $8.08 in premarket trading.

The United States is the world's largest exporter of LNG and had shipped 11.9 billion cubic feet per day of the supercooled fuel in 2024 and has gained further momentum following President Donald Trump's lifting in January of a moratorium on new export permits.

NextDecade's deal with JERA is subject to a positive final investment decision (FID) on the planned fifth liquefaction facility, or train.

LNG developers typically take FIDs on projects when they have lined up enough supply deals to obtain the financing needed to build.

NextDecade has been signing multiple LNG deals from the Brownsville, Texas facility, which is under construction and has a potential capacity of about 48 mtpa, to strengthen its position in the international market.

The LNG producer has signed agreements with top oil producer Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies to supply the superchilled gas, from the fourth liquefaction facility of the project, for 20 years.

Last year, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said it had acquired a 11.7 per cent stake in phase one of NextDecade's LNG project, which included the first three liquefaction trains and agreed to a 20-year supply deal for the fourth train.

(Reporting by Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Shailesh Kuber)