TotalEnergies, TES join forces with Japanese trio to develop US e-methane project

The partners said in a joint statement on Tuesday that the joint development and operating agreement grants the Japanese companies a combined 33.3 percent stake in the Live Oak project.

Following the agreement, TotalEnergies and TES, the developers of the project, will each maintain a 33.35 percent stake in the project.

FID in 2027

The partners are now preparing the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase, targeting a capacity of approximately 250 MW of electrolysis and 75 ktpa of methanation.

Moreover, the project, subject to a final investment decision in 2027, is scheduled to begin commercial operations by 2030, with plans to export e-NG to Japan.

Osaka Gas and Toho Gas will be the primary offtakers.

This project helps the Japanese gas majors in achieving their goal of injecting 1 percent carbon neutral gas (such as e-NG) into the gas grid by 2030, according o the statement.

LNG infrastructure

The agreement builds on the strategic partnership established between TotalEnergies and TES in 2023 to pioneer at scale production of e-NG.

Also, the Live Oak project will leverage Nebraska’s abundant biogenic CO₂ resources, captured from bioethanol plants, and the growing renewable power generation capacity in the US, the statement said.

The participation of Osaka Gas, Toho Gas, and Itochu (as a coordinator of Japanese companies), “underscores their commitment to decarbonization with the adoption of e-NG and positions Live Oak as the leading project for carbon-neutral gas production for Japan.”

e-NG is a synthetic gas produced from renewable hydrogen and CO₂.

Chemically identical to conventional natural gas, e-NG can be seamlessly integrated into existing LNG infrastructure—liquefaction, transport, regasification, and distribution—without any alterations to consumer equipment, the statement noted.