NextDecade LLC hired Krysta De Lima as general counsel and Alfonso Puga as chief commercial officer, the LNG development and management company said Sept. 22. Puga will join the company Oct. 5.

De Lima will negotiate and draft agreements for major business transactions, develop legal strategies and provide legal advice to company management.

Puga’s responsibilities as chief commercial officer include planning, preparing and executing NextDecade’s marketing initiatives and conducting market research.

Most recently, De Lima was a senior attorney with Bechtel’s oil, gas and chemicals business unit in Houston. Prior to that, she held legal and management positions at BG Group in Trinidad and provided advisory services to Schlumberger Business Consulting. She is qualified in multiple jurisdictions with extensive experience in upstream, midstream and LNG sales contracts and large-scale energy project developments.

Most recently, Puga was head of LNG at PetroChina International in the U.K., operating its trading unit and organizing PetroChina’s short-term portfolio. Puga has handled the marketing and trading of production volumes for newly formed LNG businesses. He has worked with several LNG-focused companies whose risk profiles include trading houses, utilities and oil majors throughout Europe.

Next Decade LLC is based in The Woodlands, Texas.