BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 2. TotalEnergies, Tree Energy Solutions (TES), Osaka Gas, Toho Gas and ITOCHU have signed a Joint Development and Operating Agreement granting the three Japanese companies a combined 33.3% stake in the Live Oak project — a large-scale electric natural gas (e-NG, or e-methane) production facility under development in Nebraska, USA, Trend reports via the ITOCHU company.
Following the deal, TotalEnergies and TES will each retain a 33.35% share in the project.
The partners are now preparing to launch the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase. The project aims to develop approximately 250 MW of electrolysis capacity and 75 ktpa of methanation. Subject to a Final Investment Decision expected in 2027, commercial operations are targeted to begin by 2030, with plans to export e-NG to Japan. Osaka Gas and Toho Gas will serve as the primary offtakers. The initiative is set to support Japanese gas utilities in meeting their goal of injecting 1% carbon-neutral gas—including e-NG—into the national grid by 2030.
The agreement builds upon the strategic partnership formed in 2023 between TotalEnergies and TES to scale up industrial production of e-NG. The Live Oak project will rely on Nebraska’s significant biogenic CO₂ resources, captured from bioethanol plants, as well as growing renewable power generation capacity in the United States.
Electric natural gas (e-NG) is a synthetic gas produced from renewable hydrogen and CO₂. Chemically identical to traditional natural gas, it can be transported, stored and used within existing LNG infrastructure without any modifications to consumer equipment.