June 24 (Reuters) - Cheniere Energy said on

Tuesday it approved the final investment decision for the

expansion of the Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas project,

lifting shares by 2.4% in afternoon trading.

Bechtel Energy has been asked to proceed with construction

of the projects, CCL Midscale Trains 8 & 9, the company added.

Cheniere 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.

It 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.

"While the CCL expansion may have been anticipated, we see

the confidence in future growth and superior long-term capital

allocation flexibility as well ahead of expectations," said J.P.

Morgan analyst Jeremy Tonet.

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

and Sriraj Kalluvila)