The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a withdrawal of 11 Bcf from natural gas storage for the week ended March 12. The result fell shy of analyst estimates and punctuated market concerns about weakened weather-driven demand.

EIA storage march 12

“It was much warmer than normal over the northern and central U.S., while slightly cool over the West Coast and Southeast” during the report period, NatGasWeather said.

Ahead of the EIA report, futures were under heavy pressure, as they have been most of this month amid forecasts for warming temperatures and moderating heating demand. However, traders bought into the dip shortly after the storage result was released.

The April contract was down 9.0 cents at $2.438/MMBtu a few minutes before the 10:30 ET release of the...