NextDecade has made a final investment decision on Train 5 at its Rio Grande LNG facility in Brownsville, Texas. The new unit will add 6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of capacity, bringing the total under construction at the site to approximately 30 MTPA. The project has an estimated cost of $6.7 billion, including related infrastructure, with operations expected to begin in the first half of 2031.
The long term offtake underpinning 4.5 MTPA from JERA, EQT, and ConocoPhillips according to contemporaneous disclosures. These steps follow September’s Train 4 sanction, consolidating Bechtel’s position on delivery and extending the project’s multi train buildout on the Gulf Coast as U.S. LNG permitting accelerates after policy shifts earlier in the year, as reported at the time by independent media.
Financing Mix Locks Funding Structure
In financing markets, the company closed a series of commitments sized to the Train 5 budget, including back leverage at the corporate level and equity into the project joint venture, which in aggregate aligns with the US$6.7 billion cost base identified in prior guidance. A law firm advising the sponsor details a US$600 million super finco facility for the initial equity contribution, a US$729 million delayed draw finco for subsequent equity, and about US$2.571 billion of joint venture equity commitments, with approximately US$1.285 billion from Global Infrastructure Partners, now part of BlackRock, GIC, and Mubadala, and about US$1.285 billion from NextDecade itself, which together complement project level debt planned at the asset.
The firm’s update states that these raises enabled the positive decision. A law firm advising the sponsor details a US$600 million super finco facility. Earlier company guidance had also indicated the sponsor expects to finance construction using approximately 60 percent debt and 40 percent equity at the project level, a ratio consistent with U.S. LNG precedents.
“We have now completed commercialization of Train 5,” said Matt Schatzman.
EPC Scope And Delivery Milestones
Building on prior contracts, NextDecade executed a lump sum turnkey EPC with Bechtel for Train 5 in June 2025, an agreement that extended price validity into the fourth quarter to align with the expected decision timeline and that complements Train 4’s refreshed EPC terms. With Train 5 now authorized, the sponsor has issued full notice to proceed to Bechtel consistent with its contracting model for the earlier trains, and the schedule points to delivery in the first half of 2031, which if met would round out approximately 30 MTPA under construction across the five train programme anchored by common facilities at the Brownsville site. The EPC execution is central. The company disclosed that the Train 5 EPC was executed alongside a Train 4 pricing refresh, an approach that stabilized cost certainty during the commercial closeout for the new unit. NextDecade executed a lump sum turnkey EPC with Bechtel for Train 5 in June 2025. “The global call for additional natural gas infrastructure continues to be strong,” said Matt Schatzman.
Consider the policy backdrop, then the buyer mix. The Train 5 sanction arrived after Train 4’s September close and amid a re opening of U.S. LNG export permitting that has supported a fresh wave of project decisions, while commercial traction for this unit centred on 20 year Henry Hub indexed SPAs totalling 4.5 MTPA with JERA, EQT, and ConocoPhillips, which the sponsor had signalled as sufficient to back the investment, even as one legacy equity partner did not roll forward into Train 5. The buyer slate matters.
Company releases chronicle the offtake sequence, from a 2.0 MTPA agreement with JERA in May to a 1.5 MTPA deal with EQT in early September and the 1.0 MTPA ConocoPhillips SPA that completed commercialization days later, while separate reporting noted that TotalEnergies chose not to invest in or lift from Train 5 as it reweighted its LNG portfolio, a decision that did not preclude Train 4 participation earlier in 2025.