A subsidiary of NextDecade LLC joined with FLEX LNG on an agreement to develop floating storage and regasification units for customers of the proposed Rio Grande LNG export project in Brownsville, Texas.

The units would turn LNG shipped from the U.S. Gulf Coast export terminal back into gas at import locations, which the companies said in a joint news release would attract new markets and "create a full value chain solution" for potential customers of the planned LNG project.

"Global interest for NextDecade's U.S.-produced LNG has demonstrated a need for additional and flexible import solutions worldwide," NextDecade CEO Kathleen Eisbrenner said in the statement.

NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG export terminal would include six liquefaction trains, each with a production capacity of about 4.5 million tonnes per annum. The project's formal FERC application was filed in May, and developers expect to place the first liquefaction train in service by the fourth quarter of 2020. (FERC docket CP16-454)