NextDecade Corp. inked a long-term agreement with its first Japanese customer, Itochu Corp., for offtake from the proposed Rio Grande LNG project in South Texas.

rio grande

NextDecade said Thursday Itochu signed a 15-year sales and purchase agreement (SPA) for 1 million metric ton/year (mmty) of liquefied natural gas indexed to Henry Hub. It would be delivered on a free-on-board basis.

The contract with Itochu further diversifies NextDecade’s customer base, adding to contracts with Chinese utilities, Western Europe companies and majors ExxonMobil and Shell plc.

With the latest SPA, NextDecade has placed more than 10 mmty under contract for the developing project. The facility is proposed to have a 27 mmty capacity with three capacity trains of around 9 mmty.

The unsanctioned...