NextDecade, JERA Sign 20-Year LNG Supply Deal

U.S. liquefied natural gas producer NextDecade said on Thursday it had signed a 20-year deal to supply Japan's biggest power generator JERA with 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG from its Rio Grande project's fifth liquefaction facility.

Shares of NextDecade were up 5.5% at $8.11 in early trading.

The United States is the world's largest exporter of LNG, shipping 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, Japan's biggest LNG buyer, is subject to a positive Final Investment Decision on the planned fifth liquefaction facility, or train. Japan is the world's second-largest LNG buyer.

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 said it had acquired a 11.7% stake in phase 1 of NextDecade's LNG project, which included the first three liquefaction trains and agreed to a 20-year supply deal for the fourth train.

The latest deal comes after another Japanese utility, Kyushu Electric Power 9508.T, announced a plan to sign a 20-year contract with U.S. Energy Transfer to buy up to 1 million tons of LNG annually from the Lake Charles project.

Trump has pushed allies like Japan and South Korea to buy U.S. oil and gas while threatening tariffs on their exports. Japan's top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is set to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday in the fourth round of trade talks in Washington.

A JERA spokesperson said the company had not been asked by the Japanese government to purchase U.S. LNG, adding the deal was signed in late April following discussions that began last year.

(Reuters/Reporting by Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Mark Potter)