May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. LNG exporter Cheniere Energy

said on Wednesday its unit has entered into a long-term

agreement to purchase natural gas from Canadian Natural

Resources ( CNQ ).

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT

The U.S. is the world's largest exporter of liquefied

natural gas and had shipped 11.9 billion cubic feet per day of

the supercooled fuel in 2024.

Commercial activity in the sector has gained further

momentum after U.S. President Donald Trump lifted a moratorium

on new LNG export permits after taking office in January.

CONTEXT

Cheniere had said in February it would aggressively pursue

new regulatory permits to expand capacity now that Trump is in

office.

The company 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, both in Texas, it

had then said.

The supply agreement with Canadian Natural is subject to

Cheniere making a positive final investment decision with

respect to the Sabine Pass Liquefaction (SPL) expansion project.

BY THE NUMBERS

Canadian Natural Resources ( CNQ ) has agreed to sell 140,000

million British thermal units per day of natural gas to Cheniere

Marketing for 15 years, which is expected to commence in 2030.

The SPL expansion project is being developed with an

expected total production capacity of up to about 20 MTPA of

LNG.