UPDATE 1-New Fortress Pennsylvania LNG on hold, environmental groups say

(Adds Pennsylvania to headline)

March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. energy company New Fortress Energy Inc's contentious liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Pennsylvania has been placed on hold, environmental groups opposed to the plant said on Monday.

PennFuture, Clean Air Council and the Sierra Club have obtained agreement from New Fortress to allow the proposed plant's air quality permit to expire in July, effectively halting the project in Wyalusing Township in the north-central part of the state, the three groups said in a joint statement.

New Fortress will now have to obtain a new air permit from the state if it wants to begin construction of the proposed plant, the groups added.

Officials at New Fortress were not immediately available for comment.

New Fortress wanted to transport LNG from the Pennsylvania plant via truck or train to a port in Gibbstown, New Jersey. From there the company would export the LNG by ship to customers in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

New Fortress filed with Pennsylvania environmental regulators for the air permit in 2018 and received it in 2019. The permit was to expire in 2021, but state regulators extended it until 2022.

The company, however, was slow to develop the project as it focuses on other energy projects, including deployment of floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facilities around the world.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by David Goodman)