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By Curtis Williams

HOUSTON, March 11 (Reuters) -

U.S. regulators have approved the expansion of Cheniere

Energy's Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas plant in

Texas, a Cheniere executive said on Tuesday.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved construction

of the company's Midscale trains 8 and 9 project, the company's

Chief Commercial Officer Anatol Feygin said at an industry

conference in Houston.

Cheniere is the largest U.S. LNG producer and played a key role

in the U.S. becoming the world's largest exporter of the

superchilled gas.

The addition of the two production trains is expected to add

another 3 million metric tonnes per annum of LNG to Cheniere's

production at its Corpus Christi, Texas, plant. The plant's

current capacity is 15 million metric tonnes per annum.

Cheniere is also building its Stage 3 expansion at the

Corpus Christi site. Stage 3 will add a further 10 million

metric tonnes per annum.

Cheniere applied to FERC in March 2023 for approval to build its

Midscale expansion and the approval was granted on Monday,

Feygin said.

FERC approval is needed to construct LNG plants in the U.S.