NGSA expects U.S. lower natural gas prices this summer despite demand

May 9 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas demand will remain at record levels this summer driven by power market consumption and exports, but prices will decline from last year due to a production increase and higher storage levels, according to a summer outlook from the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA), an industry group, on Thursday.

NGSA's 2024 Summer Outlook foresees downward pressure on prices, despite it projecting 1% increase in customer demand compared to last summer.

Summer is defined as April through October, the industry’s traditional cooling season, NGSA added.

"NGSA's forecast predicts a record amount of temporary switching to lower-carbon natural gas-fired generation this summer because of the highly-competitive price of natural gas," said Freeman Shaheen, Chairman of NGSA and President of Global Gas at Chevron.

"The power generation mix of our country is rapidly changing. Since 2018, almost 200 gigawatts of new natural gas, renewable resources, and energy storage capacity has already been or will soon be integrated into the grid," Shaheen added.

(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; editing by Diane Craft)