LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) - Oil giant Aramco is

in talks with U.S. firms Tellurian and NextDecade ( NEXT )

on two separate LNG projects as the Saudi firm seeks to

boost its gas trading and production, three sources close to the

talks told Reuters.

U.S. gas production has boomed over the past decade with oil

majors and Aramco's rivals such as Qatar's QE competing to build

several projects to export gas to Europe and Asia.

The state energy firm is in talks with Tellurian to

buy a stake in its 27.6 million metric ton per annum (mtpa)

Driftwood LNG plant near Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Aramco officials visited the site three times last month -

including together with executives from Australia's Woodside on

one of those occasions, said the sources who declined to be

identified as talks are not public.

Aramco is also in talks with U.S. LNG firm NextDecade ( NEXT )

for a long-term gas purchase agreement from a proposed

fifth processing unit at its $18 billion Rio Grande facility.

Aramco declined to comment. Tellurian said it does not

comment on market speculation. Woodside said it continuously

assesses organic and inorganic growth opportunities but declined

further comment. NextDecade ( NEXT ) did not immediately respond to

Reuters request for comment.

Aramco is seeking to strengthen its position in the LNG

market, which is set to grow by 50% by 2030, especially in the

United States, where LNG capacity is set to almost double over

the next four years.

Tellurian has spent years and hundreds of millions of

dollars on trying to finance and build the Driftwood plant.

Last fall, Tellurian warned investors that continued losses

and dwindling cash reserves might not be enough within a year to

cover operating and debt costs.

Aramco is one of the world's largest oil producers and top

exporter, pumping nearly 10% of the world's crude supply.

However, its presence in the LNG market is dwarfed by

neighbouring Qatar. UAE's ADNOC also has a bigger presence.

Aramco made its first LNG investment abroad when it

bought a stake in U.S. MidOcean Energy for $500 million last

year.

In March, Reuters reported that Aramco was in talks to

invest in Sempra Infrastructure's Port Arthur project in Texas.

It is also competing with Shell to buy the assets

of Temasek-owned LNG trading firm Pavilion Energy.