March 13 (Reuters) - Venture Global ( VG ) will proceed

with phase 2 of its CP2 liquefied natural gas project in

Louisiana, the company said on Friday.

The U.S.' second-largest LNG supplier said the project is

strategically important to global energy supply and security.

LNG prices have been elevated since Qatar, which produces

20% of the world's LNG, shut down its LNG facility due to the

ongoing war between the U.S./Israel and Iran.

Gas traded near $17 per million British thermal units at the

Dutch Title Transfer Facility benchmark in Europe

and $16 at the Japan-Korea Marker benchmark in Asia.

CP2 will have a peak production capacity of 29 million

metric tons per annum and has contracted to sell nearly all of

its LNG on a long-term basis with customers mainly in Europe and

Asia, the company said on Friday.

Venture Global ( VG ) said it raised $8.6 billion in project

financing for phase 2, having already secured $34 billion for

phase 1, and did not require any equity investment.

CP2 is Venture Global's ( VG ) third LNG project and the company

has moved in five years from a startup to a total contracted

capacity of 49 MTPA.