Management consulting firm R. W. Beck Inc. held with its previous projection on natural gas prices, and said Friday that in the second quarter it expects gas prices to average $5.37/MMBtu.

“First quarter monthly cash prices for natural gas exactly matched R. W. Beck’s forecast and we are satisfied that the market conditions we anticipated are materializing consistent with the forecast assumptions,” said Catherine Elder, who heads Beck’s Natural Gas and Fuels Practice. “We see no major changes to market conditions that would lead us to modify our forecast at this time.”

With first quarter monthly prices averaging $5.68/MMBtu, the California-based firm expects somewhat lower prices later this year as new production from last year’s increase in drilling begins to add supply.

Elder noted that a key uncertainty in the forecast remains gas demand, driven both by the weather and the economy. “Hot summer weather causing storage injections to fall behind schedule could quickly change the supply picture and keep gas prices higher for the remainder of the year.”

The preview forecast is available at www.rwbeck.com/energyforecasts. Call Beck for more information at (916) 614-8243.

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