Near the U.S.-Mexico border—just a few miles from SpaceX Starbase—little-known NextDecade is on the verge of becoming the top exporter of natural gas out of Texas. Its massive complex, sprawling 1,000 acres along the Brownsville Ship Channel, took more than a decade to reach this point: surviving industry doubters, the sudden death of its founder, and contentious legal fights with environmental groups.
The war in Iran and the disruption of flows from Qatar have placed renewed global focus on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which must be chilled into liquid form for overseas tanker transport. The U.S. has emerged as the world’s top LNG exporter in recent years, supplying energy-hungry markets across Europe and Asia.
