By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Energy Transfer ( ET ) on

Thursday said it is suspending the development of its Lake

Charles liquefied natural gas export facility in Louisiana to

focus on allocating funds to natural gas pipeline projects.

The

pipeline and storage compan

had been developing the 16.5 million metric tons per annum

LNG facility and had previously said it sold most of the

expected production to long-term customers.

the facility the financial go-ahead if it sold 80% of the

project to equity partners. The suspension, meanwhile, comes

amid fears about a looming global oversupply as new output comes

online.

Energy Transfer ( ET ) said it remains open to discussions with

third parties that may have an interest in developing the

project.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne warned in

September that all the planned LNG plants set to be built in the

U.S. could lead to a long-lasting glut in the market.

President Donald Trump in January issued an order for the U.S.

to resume processing export permit applications for new LNG

projects as part of an effort to raise U.S. energy output.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar and Sheila Dang in Houston;

Editing by Nathan Crooks. )