Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal developer NextDecade LLC has signed lease agreements with the state of Texas and city of Texas City for a nearly 1,000-acre site at Shoal Point for the potential development of an LNG export facility. Texas City owns almost 376 acres at Shoal Point, while the Texas General Land Office manages the adjoining 618 acres of state land. The Ports of Houston, Texas City and Galveston form the largest port complex in North America, and the NextDecade project could be the first LNG facility in the area, the company said. The Shoal Point site is east of a petrochemical industrial complex and 40 miles southeast of Houston. NextDecade is currently focused on Rio Grande LNG in South Texas, a 27 million tonne per annum project that is advancing through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permitting process. The project at Shoal Point would benefit from NextDecade’s ability to replicate much of the design and engineering work done for Rio Grande LNG, a project that is expected to have one of the lowest construction costs of any LNG production facility in the world, the company said.