June 24 (Reuters) - Cheniere Energy said on

Tuesday its board had approved the final investment decision for

the expansion of the Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas

project.

The largest U.S. LNG exporter said Bechtel Energy has been

asked to proceed with construction of the projects, CCL Midscale

Trains 8 & 9.

Cheniere has said it plans to double its current LNG

production to 90 million metric tonnes per annum by building

more export facilities at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi.

Additionally, the company said on Tuesday it has been

developing further brownfield liquefaction capacity expansions

at both the Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass terminals.

The company expects to execute the plan in a phased manner,

starting with initial single-train expansions at each site, if

completed, would grow its LNG platform to up to about 75 mtpa of

capacity by the early 2030s.

The United States is the world's largest exporter of

liquefied natural gas and commercial activity in the sector

gained momentum after President Donald Trump lifted a moratorium

on new LNG export permits soon after taking office in January.

In February, Cheniere had said it would aggressively pursue

new regulatory permits to expand capacity.

Cheniere said on Tuesday it expects to deploy more than $25

billion of available cash through 2030 toward growth, share

repurchases, balance sheet management and dividends.

It also raised its run-rate LNG production capacity forecast

to be between nearly 60 mtpa and 63 mtpa from about 54 mtpa and

57 mtpa previously.

Upon completion of CCL Midscale Trains 8 & 9, and together

with expected debottlenecking and CCL Stage 3, the Corpus

Christi LNG terminal is expected to reach over 30 mtpa in total

liquefaction capacity later this decade, Cheniere added.

(Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim ZAhid

and Sriraj Kalluvila)