HOUSTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Chevron ( CVX ) does not

want to invest in the construction of U.S. LNG plants, as it is

not the best use of the company's capital and it can easily sell

its U.S. gas, said a top official on Thursday.

The head of Chevron's ( CVX ) midstream, Colin Parfitt, also ruled

out taking an equity stake in Woodside Energy's ( WDS )

impending purchase of Louisiana-based Driftwood LNG.

"We chose not to do the owning and operating but we do deals

that allow us to have production of gas in the U.S. and

translate it into LNG for our customers," Parfitt said in an

interview.

Woodside has said it is prepared to sell up to 50% stake in

the proposed 27.6 million tons per annum Driftwood liquefied

natural gas project.

The U.S. is unique in that Chevron ( CVX ) can monetize its gas

production without having to convert it to LNG since the country

had a large midstream market.

One of the ways that Chevron ( CVX ) plans to benefit from LNG

output in the U.S is through sales and purchase agreements with

LNG developers. It has separate agreements with Cheniere Energy

and Venture Global LNG, the latter of which has been in

contract disputes with big customers.

"I have sat with Venture Global in the past and I am very

well aware of the noise that's out there. Our view is if we have

an issue with a supplier then we talk to them and we do talk to

Venture Global very directly," Parfitt said.

Large projects are prone to delays and the Biden pause on

export reviews that held up LNG export approvals to non FTA

countries will also slow down the next phase of projects,

Parfitt said.