Saudi Aramco Bets on US Gas with NextDecade, Sempra Deals for 6.2m Tonnes of LNG

Saudi Aramco will sign MoU with US LNG producer NextDecade and utility company Sempra, as the oil company grows in the LNG industry.

As President Donald Trump promises to unleash US energy exports fuels with the hope of a new industrial boom, Saudi Aramco is increasing its bet on US gas.

Saudi Aramco will sign memoranda of understanding (MoU) with US liquefied natural gas producer NextDecade and utility company Sempra on Tuesday, the company’s chief executive announced, as the oil company grows in the LNG industry.

Amin Nasser, the CEO of Aramco, told the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh that the US currently sells about $100 billion worth of gas, and the number is still rising.

He continued saying that the US is a great area to invest, adding that Sempra and NextDecade would provide Aramco with about 6.2 million tonnes of LNG under the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) terms.

The US currently exports more LNG than any other country globally, and manufacturers have ambitions to double capacity in the upcoming years.

Last month, NextDecade signed a contract with an Aramco subsidiary that aims to become the king of the LNG market. The US company will deliver the superchilled gas from its Rio Grande facility for 20 years.

Nasser stated that they have expansion plans, referring to the seven-and-a-half million tons of LNG they expect by 2030.

Nasser also stated that Aramco is planning to sign an agreement to expand the Motiva Port Arthur refinery in the United States, noting the oil company would invest $3.4 billion in the refinery.

Similarly, Mubadala Energy, owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala, is buying a 24.1% share in the energy-focused asset manager Kimmeridge’s Commonwealth liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana and its shale gas producing company in Texas.

The deal, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was made months after the Trump government lifted a block on LNG permit approvals initiated under former president Joe Biden, granting an export license to the Commonwealth facility.

Over the past two years, Middle Eastern energy groups have considered investing in US LNG to establish a foothold in the world’s biggest LNG-exporting country. Abu Dhabi’s national oil company purchased an 11.7% stake in NextDecade’s Rio Grande gas export facility in Texas.

The United Arab Emirates reported investing $1 trillion in the US, and the White House announced that the Gulf is committed to investing $1.4 trillion in industries ranging from artificial intelligence to metals and energy.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi also invested in energy assets globally, such as buying solar and wind farms through Masdar, a state-backed sustainable energy company. It is also growing in the petrochemical sector, and last year, its energy investment platform XRG purchased German chemicals manufacturer Covestro.

By 2050, the United States will produce around one-third of the world’s liquefied natural gas. Mubadala Energy and Kimmeridge described the acquisition as a “strategic play in one of the world’s most important gas hubs.”

It is Mubadala Energy’s first significant investment in the United States and its first agreement since acquiring a share in Israel’s Tamar gasfield in 2021. The business also had interests in Southeast Asia and Russia.

Kimmeridge Texas Gas, a gas production company, now produces 500 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day from the Eagle Ford region of South Texas. By 2031, the company hopes to boost this production to 1.5 billion cubic feet.

If the final investment decision this year goes as planned, the Commonwealth LNG project will be operational by 2029.

The investment was made as Trump’s energy secretary Chris Wright starts the two-week Middle East tour, which aims to deepen the region’s economic and political connections. Trump has been pressuring governments in the Middle East to invest in the United States. In January, he asked Saudi Arabia to raise its proposed investment pledge of $600 million to $1 trillion.