LNG

June 9 (LNGJ) - NextDecade Corp., developer of the Rio Grande LNG export plant In Texas, said Chief Operating Officer Ivan Van der Walt was leaving to company on June 10 to pursue other opportunities. “His legacy is the strong engineering, construction, and regulatory leadership team he assembled that is responsible for helping deliver the Rio Grande LNG export project,” said Matt Schatzman, NextDecade’s Chairman and Chief Executive.

   “Ivan has helped grow NextDecade and his leadership has helped ensure we have the right team and processes in place to begin the construction of Rio Grande LNG in the second half of this year,” added Schatzman.

Sept 22 (LNGJ) - Venture Global, the US firm with advanced plans to develop three LNG exports plants in Louisiana, has changed its corporate management structure and founders Robert Pender and Michael Sabel will no longer be co-Chief Executives.

   The Arlington, Virginia-based company said that from October 1, Sabel alone will be CEO and Pender will serve the company as Executive Co-Chairman, a new position created to support the CEO on key strategic and financial matters. Both will continue to serve on the company’s board. “It has been an exhilarating decade working with Mike to create Venture Global LNG and to help reshape the global LNG industry,” said Pender. “There is no person I trust more than Mike to lead this company we created together into the future. I remain fully committed,” he added.

June 23 (LNG) - The board of Tellurian Inc., developer of the Driftwood LNG export project near Lake Charles in Louisiana, has named Charif Souki as Executive Chairman. Souki had been Tellurian’s non-executive Chairman since founding the company in February 2016 after he departed as Chief Executive of Cheniere Energy.

   “I am re-engaging to provide additional support to Tellurian, a company I co-founded with Martin Houston, using personal and friends and family funds,” said Souki. “I am 100 percent committed to Tellurian’s success and will be working alongside our President and Chief Executive Meg Gentle, Chief Operating Officer Keith Teague, and the most experienced LNG team in the industry to get our first-class project constructed,” he added.

Tellurian Inc., the developer of the Driftwood LNG plant in Louisiana, said that Cheniere Energy, the largest US exporter, had permanently dismissed all claims against Tellurian Chairman Charif Souki, the former Cheniere Chief Executive, and Tellurian Vice Chairman Martin Houston.

NextDecade Corp., the US LNG export developer planning the Rio Grande LNG and Rio Bravo Pipeline projects in Texas, has named former senior BG Group executive Matt Schatzman to the newly created position of President.

Sept 7 (LNGJ) - NextDecade Corp., the company behind the Rio Grande LNG export project in South Texas, has appointed former banker Patrick Hughes as Vice President for Corporate Strategy with responsibility for areas such as planning and joint ventures. In addition, Hughes will oversee Investor Relations for NextDecade. “We are delighted to have Patrick join our management team and believe he will make significant contributions to the advancement of our projects, including Rio Grande LNG,” said NextDecade Chairman and Chief Executive Kathleen Eisbrenner. Hughes was previously a partner in the investment banking and advisory group at Height Securities, a Washington, DC-based brokerage.