EQT Corp CEO Toby Rice said on Wednesday that he expects short-term natural gas prices in the USA to remain below $3/MMBtu.

Due to prices falling to multi-year lows, EQT reduced production by 1 billion cubic feet per day earlier this year, and competitors of several US shale gas producers also reduced drilling to cope with oversupply. However, Rice stated at the Gastech Energy Conference that he expects the production cuts to ease next year with the increasing demand for US liquefied natural gas exports.

The CEO also mentioned that the demand for natural gas is "more crucial than ever" to meet the needs of power plants and liquefied natural gas exporters, echoing earlier comments from Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and others who criticized the "political forces" that hinder natural gas development.

Also at the Gastech Conference, Chesapeake Energy CEO Nick Dell'Osso stated that the US natural gas market is still oversupplied and his company will be "very cautious about how we change our supply situation until we see the situation of oversupply no longer exists."

Dell'Osso also stated that he expects Chesapeake Energy's $7 billion acquisition of Southwestern Energy to be completed in early fourth quarter; the deal was delayed earlier this year after the US Federal Trade Commission requested more information from both companies.