Natural Gas, Upward Pressure Due to Cooling Season and Data Center Demand Increase

Daishin Securities forecasted on the 27th that natural gas prices will face increased upward pressure as demand from data centers, which stimulates speculative trading, coincides with the upcoming cooling season.

Choi Jin-young, a researcher at Daishin Securities, explained, "The period when natural gas prices are expected to strengthen significantly is the fourth quarter. So far, the rise has been partly due to a slowdown in U.S. natural gas supply, but expectations for the cooling season have played a larger role."

Researcher Choi also noted that La Ni?a, expected in the second half of the year, could bring Arctic cold waves. He analyzed, "The largest electricity demand is for heating, not cooling. The heating season, when electricity demand in the Northern Hemisphere will surge, is the period when upward pressure on prices will be stronger."

Additionally, he explained that electricity demand from data centers and others could stimulate natural gas prices. Researcher Choi said, "By 2030, daily natural gas demand for future growth industries such as generative artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, cryptocurrency, and electric vehicles could expand by more than 150% compared to now. Considering the slow pace of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal expansions and the limited substitution capacity of coal, supply and demand concerns could intensify further." He added, "The price increase momentum will strengthen significantly toward the end of the year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.