(Adds details, background and further comments, paragraphs 3-5)

HOUSTON, March 11 (Reuters) - NextDecade Corporation ( NEXT )

CEO Matt Schatzman said on Tuesday he expects natural

gas demand to continue to grow at around 2% for the next 15

years.

"When you look at natural gas demand over the last 15 years,

I think it's grown by almost 2% fairly steadily. I expect it's

going to continue to grow at around the same rate over the next

15 years," he said at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.

He added that he expects natural gas production to rise

quickly enough to serve the growing U.S. LNG export market as

well as demand from power generators serving data centers.

"I think there's enough gas to handle a large portion

of the AI and LNG exports," he said, adding he does not expect

gas prices to spike.

NextDecade ( NEXT ) is seeking to develop the 17.61 million

tonnes per annum Rio Grande LNG terminal in Texas.