The Rio Grande LNG project, which is planned to be built in Port of Brownsville, will be a natural gas liquefaction and export facility with a capacity of 27 million tons per annum (mtpa).
NextDecade said that the technical and commercial bid packages were received from Bechtel and Fluor on-schedule, and are for fully wrapped lump-sum turnkey (LSTK) EPC contracts.
The company stated: “Following detailed evaluations of the Bechtel and Fluor bid packages, NextDecade expects to select a contractor and execute a fully wrapped LSTK EPC contract in the third quarter of 2019.”
NextDecade revealed that McDermott was a third potential bidder for the EPC contract and was required to finalize a joint venture partnership before submitting its bid. However, as the condition was not satisfied, McDermott did not go through with its bid package.
The Rio Grande LNG project, which is targeted to enter into service in 2023, will be supplied with natural gas produced from the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford Shale, and other resources.
NextDecade also plans to build the associated Rio Bravo Pipeline, which will transport gas from the Agua Dulce area to the LNG export project. The 221km long Rio Bravo Pipeline will have a transportation capacity of 4.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d).
In May 2016, the Houston-based LNG development company filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to site, construct and operate the LNG project and the pipeline project.
Last October, the company was issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the two projects by the FERC. A final EIS is expected to be issued by the regulator this month, while the deadline for the federal authorization decision on the Rio Grande LNG project and the Rio Bravo Pipeline is scheduled for late July.
Earlier this month, NextDecade signed a 20-year sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Royal Dutch Shell for supply of two mtpa of LNG from the Rio Grande LNG project.
