HOUSTON, March 21 (Reuters) - If the U.S. pulls back

from permitting new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants,

demand for the fuel will still be met from projects in Qatar,

Argentina and Africa, the CEO of Baker Hughes ( BKR ), the

world's largest provider of equipment for the LNG sector, said

on Thursday.

The Biden administration in January paused new export

permits for LNG projects to study the impact of further

expansion, a move that has drawn criticism from LNG companies

and their advocates.

"We believe by 2030 there needs to be an installed base

capacity of LNG of 800 million tons per annum and either through

U.S. projects or international projects," Baker Hughes ( BKR ) CEO

Lorenzo Simonelli said in an interview on the sidelines of

CERAWeek conference in Houston.

Qatar, one of the top LNG exporters, has announced plans to

significantly expand its production, underpinned by the

additional resources in its North Field.

"If you look at projects in Africa, you have the Rovuma

project. In Argentina, we know they have plenty of gas. There

are plenty of opportunities internationally as well as floating

LNG," Simonelli told Reuters.

Africa is at the

forefront

of a global wave of new floating LNG facilities, including

Mozambique which shipped its first LNG cargo from its offshore

Rovuma basin to Europe in 2022.

Argentina's Vaca Muerta, a formation that rivals the

U.S. Permian basin, holds the

world's second-largest shale gas

reserves and could become a key global supplier of gas if

the country speeds up projects planned for exporting LNG.

So far, the U.S. permitting pause has not led to the

cancellation of any equipment orders from U.S. companies and has

had no impact on Baker Hughes' ( BKR ) business, said Simonelli.

The growth in artificial intelligence has had a material

impact on power demand and one that is being considered in Baker

Hughes ( BKR ) forecasts for supplying equipment, said Simonelli.