NextDecade shares spike after TotalEnergies agrees to purchase stake

Investing.com -- Shares in NextDecade (NASDAQ: NEXT) jumped on Wednesday after France's TotalEnergies (EPA: TTEF) agreed to purchase a stake in the U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer.

In a statement, NextDecade said TotalEnergies would acquire a 17.5% common stock position in the firm over three tranches for an aggregate price of $219.4 million.

The move comes as part of a broader deal that will plug "momentum" into the Houston-based company's Rio Grande LNG export project, according to NextDecade. Construction of the terminal has seen repeated delays after its biggest financier, Societe Generale, backed out of the project due to protests from climate and indigenous activists.

Under the terms of that framework agreement, the group added that investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners and TotalEnergies would enable the final investment decision for the Rio Grande LNG project.

U.S. LNG exports touched a record level last year, as the war in Ukraine upended global oil markets. Europe in particular was forced to look elsewhere for its energy supply, sparking a broader push to increase U.S. export terminals.

TotalEnergies is targeting 3% annual growth in its LNG unit and has predicted that natural gas will make up for half of its energy sales by the end of the decade.

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