Nymex December natural gas futures settled higher on the final trade day in the truncated Thanksgiving holiday workweek, supported by a surprise withdrawal from inventories and approaching cold weather.

At A Glance:

  • EIA prints 7 Bcf storage draw
  • Warming follows near-term cold
  • Thanksgiving holiday limits cash

The front-month contract settled Wednesday at $2.897/MMBtu, which was off from an early $2.916/MMBtu high during the session, but still represented a 5.1-cent increase over Tuesday’s finish. Trading on the day occurred on either side of the prior day’s settlement, searching for direction from the latest inventory report. 

January futures followed, settling 4.0 cents higher at $3.033.

Natural gas cash markets were mixed by region, but up overall with weather...