July 23 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico is ending talks to

negotiate a $20 billion liquefied natural gas contract with New

Fortress Energy ( NFE ), Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday,

citing a negotiator.

New Fortress was unwilling to discuss changes to the

contract and missed a key deadline, the report said, citing

Osvaldo Linares, president of Recoms Group, the island's

third-party procurement office.

Shares of New Fortress fell more than 3% in afternoon

trading. The stock has declined more than 75% in the past six

months.

The U.S. energy firm has been struggling to secure LNG for

its power-generation operations on long-term agreements. The

company is trying to raise cash and improve its finances by

taking on partners for its primary businesses and selling some

assets following its deferral of a shareholder dividend last

year.

Linares and New Fortress Energy ( NFE ) did not immediately respond

to Reuters requests for comment.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported Puerto Rico's

financial watchdog had halted the supply deal over monopoly

concerns.

As a result of the talks ending, Puerto Rico's government is

now in discussions with four other companies to provide LNG to

the island under 30-day emergency contracts, Bloomberg's report

said on Wednesday.

Linares told Bloomberg that his agency has sent a formal

communication to Puerto Rico's oversight board that negotiations

had ended.

The Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto

Rico did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for

comment.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim

Zahid and Devika Syamnath)