Houston-based NextDecade said this week the U.S. Department of Energy authorized it to export liquefied natural gas from its Rio Grande LNG facility to non-free trade agreement countries. NextDecade received permission for FTA exports in 2016. The company said Monday it is now authorized to export LNG equivalent to 1,318 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year from Rio Grande to both FTA and non-FTA countries. Matt Schatzman, chairman and CEO, said, “This is another significant milestone for our Rio Grande LNG project, which will play a critical role in linking natural gas from the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford to the global LNG market.”