By Tim McLaughlin

Sept 28 (Reuters) - Venture Global LNG has angered some of the world's biggest energy firms with huge delays to its contracted shipments of liquefied natural gas this year. But investors holding its debt and equity aren't complaining.

The privately held U.S. company's bonds are performing better against government debt and its equity stakes have risen in value in the past year as it sells LNG under its own account into the red-hot spot market, according to analysts.

The strategy has made big mutual fund investors happy while customers like Shell and BP get slammed by undelivered cargoes.

Venture Global LNG has blamed equipment failures at its Calcasieu Pass facility in Louisiana for its inability to supply long-term contract holders with gas, saying the facility is not fully commissioned.

Meantime, it has delivered over 200 cargoes of LNG worth more than $18 billion since 2022, cashing in on red-hot spot market prices caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Junk bond investors, including mutual funds like Vanguard and PIMCO that increased their exposure to LNG, have benefitted.

"The bond market is not worried about the dispute with contract holders at all," said Manish Consul, a bond analyst at Fitch Ratings.

The value of a $22.4 million investment made last year in Venture Global LNG by PIMCO's Energy and Tactical Credit Opportunities Fund has more than quadrupled, according to the PIMCO fund's financial statements. The $1 billion fund now values PIMCO's equity stake at $101 million, according to the fund's latest financial disclosures.

The $25 billion Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund

, meanwhile, has increased its exposure to Venture Global-related debt, to $264 million at the end of July, up from $237 million at the end of January, according to the fund's financial statements.

Since July 2022, the spread of 2029 Calcasieu Pass bonds has narrowed to 259 basis points this week against 5-year benchmark U.S. Treasuries, from 332 basis points, according to LSEG data.

By contrast, the ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Index , a benchmark for the junk bond market, traded this week at a spread of nearly 400 basis points against 5-year Treasuries

, compared to about 593 basis points in July 2022.

Portfolio managers at the two funds did not return messages seeking comment.

Calcasieu Pass bonds' tighter spreads indicate optimism that debt holders will get paid, bond analysts said.

Cash flow from operations at Calcasieu Pass is strong enough that Venture Global can use it to service the debt on other LNG facilities it has under construction, Fitch's Consul said.

"This limits the draw on other debt," he said. "That's working well for Venture Global."

The Arlington, Virginia, based firm did not return messages seeking comment. Its CEO, Michael Sabel, said this month at a gas conference that the company has always been in compliance with its contracts.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ EXPLAINER: Venture Global LNG's contract fight with European customers Exclusive: Repsol challenges Venture Global LNG over failure to supply gas Venture Global CEO says court battles are not slowing US LNG projects

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(Reporting By Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

((tim.mclaughlin@thomsonreuters.com; +1 617-620-3471; Reuters Messaging: Tim.McLaughlin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))