Aubrey McClendon, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK), said that natural gas storage would hit capacity this year, forcing producers to shut in production.

As storage fills "pipeline pressures are going to increase and that is going to cause involuntary curtailment," McClendon said during a conference call to discuss the company's second quarter earnings.

Chesapeake said last week that the company's second quarter production grew 5% over the same period last year. The company held back some production in the second quarter but is no longer curbing output.

Natural gas in U.S. storage for the week ended July 24 stood at 3.023 trillion cubic feet - 23% higher than last year and 19% above the five-year average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

-By Jason Womack, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9201; jason.womack@dowjones.com