January 26, 2026 [Seeking Alpha]- Abu Dhabi state oil company Adnoc said Monday it has increased its stake in the Rio Grande liquefied natural gas project in Texas, buying a 7.6% equity interest in the second phase of the project from BlackRock’s (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners.

Adnoc did not disclose the acquisition price for the stake in Phase 2, which will include two trains capable of processing ~12M metric tons/year of LNG per year and costing more than $13B, according to developer NextDecade (NEXT).

The deal follows Adnoc’s 2024 purchase of an 11.7% stake in the initial phase of Rio Grande LNG, which when all phases are complete, is expected to be one of the world’s largest LNG facilities with capacity to ship as much as 60M metric tons/year of LNG.

Rio Grande LNG is being developed by NextDecade (NEXT) with financial backing from GIP, Adnoc’s overseas investment arm XRG, TotalEnergies (TTE) and several other partners; construction on Phase 1 of the project in Brownsville, Texas, began in 2023 and is expected to begin production in 2027, and Phase 2 is likely to be substantially complete by 2031.

NextDecade (NEXT) said recently it has initiated the pre-filing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for expansion at Rio Grande LNG that includes a sixth liquefaction train and an additional marine berth.