PARIS, Sept 9 - TotalEnergies CEO Patrick

Pouyanne said that U.S. liquefied natural gas developer

NextDecade ( NEXT ), in which Total holds a stake, will announce a final

investment decision on an additional liquefaction unit at its

Rio Grande LNG project later on Tuesday, in an interview with

CNBC.

The comments were made on the sidelines of the GasTech

conference in Milan on Tuesday.

"For a company like TotalEnergies, the U.S. has plenty of

energy - we invest in the Gulf of Mexico with Chevron ( CVX ), we

continue to explore gas and LNG, and we will announce a new

train for Rio Grande LNG; the FID will be announced today,"

Pouyanne said.

Pouyanne added that he would meet with the U.S. energy

and interior secretaries on Tuesday to discuss the French energy

company's investments in the country.

NextDecade ( NEXT ) did not immediately respond to a request for

comment outside of U.S. business hours.

The Texas-based LNG producer has previously said it was

targeting mid-September

for a FID on a fourth and fifth train, or liquefaction

unit, at Rio Grande.

LNG developers typically reach an FID on projects once

they have secured enough supply deals to obtain the necessary

financing for construction.

On Monday, NextDecade ( NEXT ) announced it had fully

commercialized Train 5, with the signing of a 20-year

supply agreement

with ConocoPhillips ( COP ).

TotalEnergies, the largest offtaker of U.S. LNG, has a

17.5% stake in NextDecade ( NEXT ) and a 16.7% interest in Phase 1 of the

Rio Grande project, which includes the first three trains.

In April, it signed a 20-year deal to purchase 1.5

million tons per annum (mtpa) from Train 4, although Reuters

reported last month Total had

declined its option

to invest in Train 5.