US LNG developer NextDecade appoints CCO

US LNG export project developer, NextDecade said Tuesday it has appointed Erik Ludtke as chief commercial officer.

The appointment is effective November 1, 2018.

Ludtke will be responsible for developing and managing the natural gas supply portfolio, the midstream assets, and the commercial operations required to provide NextDecade’s customers with LNG from its Rio Grande LNG and Galveston Bay LNG export projects.

Prior to joining NextDecade, Ludtke led commercial and business development activities at NorthStar Midstream, a portfolio company of Oaktree Capital.

He also previously led Apache Corporation’s oil and gas marketing and trading group in the U.S. and Latin America, spent six years with Duke Energy, and he worked at BG Group.

“He joins us at an exciting time as we build momentum at our Rio Grande LNG project, supported by our optimal gas supply location in South Texas, our competitive EPC process, the recent issuance of our draft environmental impact statement by FERC, and commercial progress with LNG customers, ” Matt Schatzman, NextDecade’s CEO said.