UPDATE 1-Australia sees LNG export volumes more than doubling by 2015/16

* LNG export volumes to reach 41 mln tonnes by 2015/16

* Australia eyes number two LNG exporter position

* China, India LNG demand increase rapidly over next five years (Adds background on Australia's LNG sector)

SYDNEY, March 1 (Reuters) - Australia's liquefied natural gas exports are expected to more than double from 18 million tonnes in 2009/10 to 41 million tonnes in 2015/16, with the start-up of several major LNG projects, the country's top forecaster said on Tuesday.

The increase would catapult Australia to the second largest LNG exporter in the world after Qatar, up from the fourth largest in 2009, as it steps up production to meet rapidly growing demand for the fuel in Asia.

"Over the next five years, Australia's LNG exports are projected to increase at a rate of 19 per cent a year, underpinned by a number of new projects under construction," the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), said in a report.

The value of Australia's LNG exports is also expected to more than double from A$8 billion in 2009/10 to $18.5 billion in 2015/16, an average annual increase of 15 percent.

Australia's LNG export growth will be fueled by several new projects including the 15 million tonne per annum (mtpa) Gorgon project, which will come online in 2014/15 and the 7.8 mtpa Gladstone LNG and 8.5 mtpa Curtis LNG, both due online in 2014/15.

With an estimated $200 billion of LNG projects on the drawing board, the Australian LNG industry is aiming to export 60 million tonnes of LNG by 2020.