June 21 (Reuters) - Cheniere Energy has entered into a long-term agreement with Norway's Equinor to supply 1.75 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum, it said on Wednesday.
The United States has emerged as the world's largest LNG exporter after Western sanctions on major supplier Russia left Europe scrambling to find alternate sources for the commodity.
Houston, Texas-based Cheniere said the supply agreement will help support the proposed expansion of its Sabine Pass natural gas plant in Louisiana.
The delivery of half of the contract volume would begin in 2027 and the other half is expected by the end of this decade on reaching a positive final investment decision for the Sabine Pass project, the company said.
The supply agreement is for 15 years, starting from the first delivery of total contract volume.
The firms had signed an LNG supply deal last year, and the new agreement doubles the volume of LNG that Equinor will export out of Cheniere's LNG terminals on the U.S. gulf coast, the Norwegian firm said.
"Equinor has an ambition to strengthen its role as a leading supplier of natural gas and with our supply agreements with Cheniere we are expanding our global position," said Helge Haugane, Equinor's Senior Vice President for Gas and Power.