Report: Tellurian to sign $2.5 billi...

Houston liquefied natural gas company Tellurian is expected to sign a $2.5 billion deal with India’s Petronet LNG, sources told Reuters.

The deal is expected to be signed on Saturday, Reuters reported.

Full details were not immediately available but Reuters reported that Petronet will invest $2.5 billion in Tellurian’s proposed Driftwood LNG export terminal in Lakes Charles, La., in exchange for the rights to 5 million metric tons of LNG per year over the lifespan of the project.

News of the deal comes ahead of a joint Sunday morning appearance by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump at the NRG Stadium in Houston, where the two leaders are expected to speak about wider cooperation between their nations.

Tellurian officials declined to comment on Friday morning, but the company is a sponsor of Modi’s appearance at the NRG Stadium.

As part of of its environmental goals, India is building new LNG import terminals and expanding the number of natural gas pipelines to encourage the use of cleaner fuel, Reuters reported.

Modi set a goal to have natural gas make up 15 percent of India’s power generation energy mix by 2030.

Launched in 2016 by LNG industry veteran Charif Souki, Tellurian LNG obtained a permit to build the company’s proposed Driftwood LNG export terminal in April.

With Driftwood LNG designed and permitted to produce up to 27.6 million metric tons of LNG per year, Tellurian has been working to pre-sell as much of that production as possible before making a final investment decision on the project.