UPDATE 1-TotalEnergies says it has no plans to sell shares in NextDecade

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PARIS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - TotalEnergies has no plans to sell its shares in U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company NextDecade, the French energy group said on Thursday after market speculation over a potential sale.

"TotalEnergies clarifies that it has no current plans to sell its shares in NextDecade and that it remains fully committed to the development of the Rio Grande LNG project together with operator NextDecade," it said in a statement.

TotalEnergies issued the statement after NextDecade filed in late December a prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would allow TotalEnergies to sell its 17.5% stake in NextDecade over time.

However, TotalEnergies said this marked a "reflection of TotalEnergies’ general approach to retain flexibility when it comes to its equity investments," rather than any actual decision to sell. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta Editing by David Goodman and Mark Potter)