TotalEnergies, Partners Advance $1.8 Billion e-NG Project in Nebraska for Japan Exports

TotalEnergies and partners TES, Osaka Gas, Toho Gas and ITOCHU will develop the Live Oak e-NG project in Nebraska, producing synthetic natural gas for export to Japan by 2030. The facility will use biogenic CO₂ and renewable hydrogen to create carbon-neutral fuel.

PARIS (P&GJ) — TotalEnergies, TES, Osaka Gas, Toho Gas and ITOCHU have signed a joint development and operating agreement to advance the Live Oak e-NG project in Nebraska — a large-scale facility designed to produce electric natural gas (e-NG), also known as e-methane.

Under the deal, the Japanese partners will hold a 33.3% stake, while TotalEnergies and TES will each retain 33.35%. The project will now move into the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase, targeting 250 MW of electrolysis capacity and 75,000 tonnes per year of methanation.

A final investment decision (FID) is expected in 2027, with commercial operations planned for 2030. The facility aims to export carbon-neutral gas to Japan, with Osaka Gas and Toho Gas serving as primary offtakers to help meet Japan’s goal of injecting 1% carbon-neutral gas into its grid by 2030.

“The Live Oak project builds on our partnership with TES to scale up synthetic methane production using renewable power and biogenic CO₂,” TotalEnergies said.

Located in Nebraska, Live Oak will leverage CO₂ captured from local bioethanol plants and renewable electricity for hydrogen production. The resulting e-NG, chemically identical to natural gas, can be transported through existing LNG infrastructure without modification to liquefaction, regasification, or end-use equipment.

The companies said the collaboration underscores growing U.S.-Japan cooperation on clean gas technologies and marks a step forward for carbon-neutral gas supply chains.