Why the UAE Is Taking a Bigger Piece of America’s LNG Crown Jewel

XRG, the international investment arm wholly owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), has increased its equity stake in the Rio Grande LNG project at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, acquiring an additional 7.6% interest in Trains 4 and 5. The stake was purchased from an acquisition vehicle of Global Infrastructure Partners, part of BlackRock.

The transaction builds on XRG's earlier indirect 11.7% holding in Phase 1 of the facility, which covers Trains 1, 2 and 3. With the latest deal, the UAE-owned firm now holds equity across all five trains currently under construction at one of the world's largest LNG export developments. Trains 4 and 5 are together expected to deliver around 12 million tonnes per annum, while the wider Rio Grande project has roughly 30 mtpa of liquefaction capacity being built, with production anticipated in the first half of 2027. As part of its initial investment, ADNOC Trading signed a 20-year agreement to offtake 1.9 mtpa from Train 4.

The move sits within a broader pattern of United States efforts to expand LNG cooperation with Gulf allies. Saudi Aramco has entered two 20-year supply deals with US suppliers, including volumes tied to Rio Grande's Train 4 and to the Commonwealth LNG facility in Louisiana, the latter linked to a platform partly backed by the UAE's Mubadala. Iraq, meanwhile, is planning its first LNG import terminals with involvement from US firm Excelerate. Analysts frame these deals as reinforcing Washington's use of LNG as a foreign policy tool since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with US export capacity now around 11.4 Bcf/d and projected to double by 2031.

For Malaysian and Southeast Asian readers, the deepening ties between US LNG capacity and Gulf capital signal intensifying competition in the global LNG trade, where Malaysia is a long-established exporter through Petronas. Growing US export volumes and Gulf-backed offtake commitments could reshape pricing and long-term contract dynamics across Asia-Pacific buyers, many of whom compete for the same cargoes. The strategic alignment of energy and geopolitics also has implications for regional shipping, offtake negotiations and the positioning of Southeast Asian producers within an increasingly contested market.