* US will cancel offshore wind leases off New York and

Carolinas

* Total will invest $928 mln in LNG and fossil fuel

projects

* US will reimburse Total for leases, drawing industry

criticism

(Adds Interior Secretary in paragraph 4 and trade group quotes

in paragraph, background 6,7)

By Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw

HOUSTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The United States and

French energy major TotalEnergies said on Monday they

would redirect nearly $1 billion from offshore wind leases to

U.S. oil and natural gas production.

The agreement marks a new strategy in the Trump

administration's wide-ranging effort to stymie development of

U.S. offshore wind projects, which President Donald Trump has

said he finds ugly, costly and inefficient.

His administration has moved to increase domestic fossil

fuel production and scrap policies that support clean energy

development.

"This agreement is yet another win for President Trump's

commitment to affordable and reliable energy for all Americans,"

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. "Offshore

wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally

disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on

American ratepayers and taxpayers."

The U.S. will reimburse Total around $1 billion that the

company paid in lease purchases for offshore wind, and

TotalEnergies has pledged not to develop any new offshore wind

projects in the country, a U.S. Department of the Interior

statement said.

An offshore wind trade group, Oceantic Network, criticized

the administration for using taxpayer funds to block projects.

"This is political theater meant to obscure the fact that

offshore wind capacity is being pulled out of the pipeline when

energy prices are skyrocketing, even as other offshore wind

projects continue delivering reliable and affordable power to

the grid," Sam Salustro, senior vice president of policy and

market affairs at Oceantic, said in a statement.

Total will invest $928 million in 2026 in the development of

four trains at the Rio Grande LNG plant in Texas, and in the

development of upstream conventional oil in the U.S. Gulf and

shale gas production, the statement said.

Following those investments, the U.S. will terminate leases

in the Carolina Long Bay area and the New York Bight area, both

executed in 2022, and reimburse Total.

Total paid $795 million for the New York lease at a

blockbuster auctionduring the administration of former President

Joe Biden that attracted more than $4 billion in bids from the

industry.

The Attentive Energy One project within the lease was

stalled when New York State said it would not proceed with a

contract award in early 2024. A second project, Attentive Energy

Two, was awarded a contract with New Jersey in January 2024.

Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said offshore wind was not the

most affordable way to produce electricity in the U.S.

Pouyanne and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum

announced the agreement at the CERAWeek energy conference in

Houston.