NextDecade LLC, The Woodlands, Tex., has signed an agreement with CB&I for the front-end engineering design (FEED) and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) terms related to the Rio Grande LNG export project in Brownsville, Tex. This agreement follows NextDecade’s applying for and acceptance into the FERC pre-filing process in late March (OGJ Online, Mar. 25, 2015).
The scope of the FEED-EPC agreement covers all design and engineering activities required for the full FERC permitting process, as well as for the parties to prepare the procurement of equipment until the point of the final investment decision (FID). This will be possible once the FERC and related permitting agencies have given full authorization to construct, expected in 2017, NextDecade said.
Rio Grande LNG, a wholly owned subsidiary of NextDecade, is a land-based LNG export project on a 1,000-acre site along the Brownsville Shipping Channel in Brownsville, Tex. The project includes plans for as many as 6 liquefaction trains, each with a 4.5 million tonne/year nominal output capacity.
The 140-mile proposed Rio Bravo Pipeline will supply the plant connecting it to the Agua Dulce natural gas market hub.
The company expects to make an FID on the Rio Grande’s $8-billion Phase 1 in 2017, pending regulatory approvals.
