Global engineering consultancy Wood has been awarded a ten-year maintenance contract with liquefied natural gas company NextDecade for its Rio Grande LNG export facility in Brownsville, Texas.
Under the contract, Wood will provide maintenance services to support safe, reliable operations at the approximately 1,000-acre site.
Construction on the first phase of Rio Grande LNG – consisting of three trains – started in July 2023, with start-up anticipated for 2027. This part of the site will produce around 18 million tonnes of LNG a year.
NextDecade says the facility is designed to provide reliable and cost-effective LNG through safe and efficient operations.
Last month, the company started the pre-filling process to expand the project and add capacity to produce an extra 48 million tonnes of LNG each year.
Steve Nicol, Executive President of Operations at Wood, said, “This contract boosts Wood’s position in the US LNG market and reinforces our commitment to supporting the expansion of US LNG export capability.”
As part of the project, Wood said it will also open an office in the area. The contract will create over 100 jobs, and Wood said it will focus on hiring in the local community.