Cheniere strikes LNG supply deal with Norway's Equinor

(Reuters) - Cheniere Energy will sell LNG to Equinor ASA as the Norwegian energy company plans to gain access to additional LNG supplies amid a tight commodity market and surging demand for the super-cooled fuel.

Cheniere has agreed to deliver 1.75 MMt of LNG per year for 15 years starting from the second half of 2026, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Equinor said the deal would help it build its ambitions to become a global gas supplier. The company is already Europe's second-largest supplier of natural gas after Russia's Gazprom .

"LNG will play a crucial role in energy security. By increasing our position in this segment, we will be even better positioned as a long-term, reliable supplier of energy," said Helge Haugane, Equinor's head of gas and power trading.

U.S. LNG companies have been exporting record volumes to the European Union following sanctions on Russia over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine that reduced supplies in an already tight market.

The United States is on track to become the world's largest LNG exporter this year, surpassing Australia and Qatar, as producers aim to boost liquefaction capacity.

Half of the annual volume that Cheniere plans to deliver depends on the Texas-based company making a positive final investment decision to expand liquefaction capacity at the Corpus Christi LNG Terminal.

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Terje Solsvik)

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