* Middle East conflict cuts global LNG supply, boosting

US exports to record levels

* New US capacity from Golden Pass and Cheniere

expansions could drive further export growth

* Europe remains top US LNG buyer, but Asian demand

surges as prices rise

By Curtis Williams

HOUSTON, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. exports of liquefied

natural gas rose to an all-time high in March as plants ran

above nameplate capacity and new units started up, preliminary

data from financial firm LSEG showed.

Shipments to Asia more than doubled from the previous month amid

the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that has roiled

energy markets and taken nearly 20% of global LNG supply

offline, forcing customers who depended on cargoes that

transited the Strait of Hormuz to try and find alternatives.

Exports in March climbed to 11.7 million metric tons, up from

9.94 million tons in February, and surpassed the previous

monthly record of 11.5 million tons in December, the data

showed.

QatarEnergy halted LNG production after an Iranian

strike damaged its facilities last month. The company has said

the outage could remove more than 12 million metric tons per

annum of supply for up to five years.

U.S. IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST LNG EXPORTER

The U.S. is the world's largest LNG exporter, and its commercial

model relies on destination-flexible cargoes that buyers - many

with long-term contracts and locked-in supply - can redirect to

any market. Most producers, however, don't have much spare

capacity to work with.

"We are trying to do whatever we can do. We're looking at

our maintenance schedules really hard, but at the end of the

day, we have to be safe and we have to be reliable. We don't

want to sacrifice anything to get that last drop out," Jack

Fusco, CEO of top U.S. exporter Cheniere Energy, said

last month.

Some new U.S. production capacity, however, did begin

ramping up, with QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil's ( XOM ) Golden

Pass LNG project starting output from its first train, which has

capacity of 6 million tons per annum, and Cheniere commencing

production from the 1.5 mtpa Train 5 of its Corpus Christi

Midscale expansion. Those additions mean March's record could be

surpassed again soon.

EUROPE REMAINS THE LARGEST BUYER

Higher prices in Asia helped pull more U.S. LNG into the

region. Asian spot LNG averaged $21.65 per million British

thermal units in March, compared with $16.17 per mmBtu for Dutch

benchmark TTF. U.S. shipments to Asia rose to 1.99 million tons

in March, more than double the 970,000 tons sent in February,

LSEG ship-tracking data showed.

Europe remained the largest buyer of U.S. LNG last month, taking

7.49 million tons, or about 64% of total March exports. That was

slightly below the 7.66 million tons shipped in February.

More than 1 million tons of U.S. LNG that departed in March

is currently signaling for orders or idling near the entrance to

the Suez Canal, LSEG data showed. Eleven vessels carrying

880,000 tons are at sea awaiting a destination, while four

carriers with a combined 280,000 tons are anchored at the

canal's entrance.

Egypt continued to buy significant volumes, receiving

620,000 tons in March. South Africa and Jordan each took one

cargo, the data showed. Shipments to Latin America declined to

430,000 tons in March from 520,000 tons in February.

(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Nathan

Crooks and Andrea Ricci )