HOUSTON, March 10 (Reuters) - Commonwealth LNG has seen

an increase in interest from prospective buyers since it secured

an export license from the administration of U.S. President

Donald Trump last month, the project's owner said on Monday.

The U.S. Department of Energy granted an LNG export license to

the Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana in February, the first

approval of LNG exports after former President Joe Biden paused

them early last year for environmental review.

"The...approval took a lot of risks off the table for the buyers

and that's something we have been waiting for for over two

years," Ben Dell, Managing Partner of energy management company

Kimmeridge, told Reuters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy

conference in Houston.

"And yes, it has brought additional buyers into the market."

Dell did not identify any of the new prospective buyers.

Kimmeridge acquired Commonwealth LNG in June last year.

Commonwealth is developing a 9.5 million metric tons per annum

(MTPA) LNG plant in Cameron, Louisiana.

The project currently has almost 8 million MTPA of its supply

either under contract or under consideration, including 2.5 MTPA

with Woodside Energy ( WDS ) and 2 MTPA that Kimmeridge will

keep for itself to trade.

Dell said the Trump administration's pursuit of tariffs on

imports from some trading partners has created uncertainty

because Commonwealth plans to source some of its construction

materials from abroad.

"Within our budget we have always had a line item for

tariffs so really it is about understanding where we want to

source our product from versus changing anything material in the

project," Dell told Reuters.