• NextDecade to announce FID on new Rio Grande LNG train -Total CEO
• Total to continue investing in US energy
• US LNG exports hit all-time record high last month
• LNG market could face glut if all planned projects built, Total CEO says

PARIS/MILAN, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. is building too many liquefied natural gas plants, TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Tuesday, warning it could lead to a long-lasting glut in the market if all planned projects come online.

Pouyanne earlier said that a final investment decision on additional units at the Rio Grande LNG project in Texas, in which Total has a stake, would be announced later on Tuesday.

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The French oil major is the world's largest buyer of U.S. LNG, with gas surpassing oil in the company's sales mix for the first time last year, as a transition to cleaner fuels boosts global gas demand in a trend expected to last decades.

The United States is the world's top LNG exporter, with total annual capacity expected to reach 115 million tons this year and more projects on the way, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

"We are building too much," Pouyanne said during a panel on LNG at the GasTech conference in Milan. "We are facing many U.S. projects. We will face oversupply ... for some years if all these projects come onstream."

However, Pouyanne earlier told CNBC in an interview that the U.S. presented "plenty of energy" investment opportunities for Total.

"We continue to explore gas and LNG, and we will announce a new train for Rio Grande LNG; the FID (final investment decision) will be announced today," he said.

Pouyanne will meet with the U.S. energy and interior secretaries later on Tuesday.

NextDecade (NEXT.O) , opens new tab, which is developing Rio Grande, did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of U.S. business hours.

The Houston-based LNG producer has previously said it was targeting mid-September for the final investment decision on a fourth and fifth train, or liquefaction unit, at Rio Grande.

TotalEnergies has a 17.5% stake in NextDecade 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 year from Train 4, although Reuters reported last month that Total had declined its option to invest in Train 5.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/totalenergies-ceo-says-us-lng-drive-may-cause-global-oversupply-flags-new-rio-2025-09-09/