July 22 (Reuters) - Australia's Woodside Energy ( WDS )

on Monday said it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire

U.S. liquefied natural gas developer Tellurian,

including its U.S. Gulf Coast Driftwood LNG project, for a total

value of $1.2 billion.

The transaction involves an all-cash payment of some $900

million, or $1 per share of outstanding Tellurian common stock,

the Australian company said in a release, which represents a

more than 75% premium to the last closing price of Tellurian.

The acquisition "positions Woodside to be a global LNG

powerhouse," said the company's CEO, Meg O'Neill, in the

release. The transaction adds a scalable U.S. LNG development

opportunity to Woodside's existing 10 metric tonnes per annum of

equity LNG in Australia, she said.

Tellurian has been searching for financial partners to

fund the Driftwood LNG facility. In May, it said it would sell

its upstream asset to pay off some of its debt.

The Driftwood LNG project has seen many setbacks,

including the cancellation of some LNG supply deals amid

concerns over the company's ability to finish the project.

Woodside said it is aiming for the project to be ready for a

final investment decision for Phase 1 by the first quarter of

fiscal year 2025.

"Woodside expects to leverage its global LNG expertise

to unlock this fully permitted development and expand its

relationship with Bechtel, which is the EPC (engineering,

procurement and construction) contractor for both Driftwood LNG

and our Pluto Train 2 project in Australia," Woodside said.