SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Australia's top gas producer Woodside Energy said on Wednesday it had hired Sarah Bairstow, the chief executive of Mexico Pacific, for its Louisiana liquefied natural gas plant in the United States.

Bairstow will join Woodside in early May as senior vice president at Louisiana LNG, said a Woodside spokesperson, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report on the matter.

Earlier this month, Woodside agreed to sell a 40% stake in Louisiana LNG to U.S. infrastructure investor Stonepeak for $5.7 billion, reducing its capital spending needs on the project and marking a step towards a final investment decision on the plant.

Woodside had also said it was in talks with other potential partners to further sell down its holding in Louisiana LNG.

Woodside bought U.S. LNG developer Tellurian for $1.2 billion last year to develop the 27.6 million metric tons a year project, formerly called Driftwood, in four phases to meet growing demand for gas. The first phase is expected to cost about $16 billion.

(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Rashmi Aich)