Against the backdrop of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that Lower 48 natural gas inventories dropped 129 Bcf for the week ending Feb. 18, a slightly lighter pull than expected.

With the implications of Russia’s invasion rattling commodity and stock markets around the world, including U.S. natural gas, futures prices were sharply higher at the start of Thursday’s session. The March Nymex contract, which coincidentally expires today, had surged within a few pennies of the $5.000/MMBtu mark before 9 a.m. ET before falling back to around $4.800 in the minutes leading up to the latest storage data. 

The surprise pull bumped the prompt month a tick higher. By 11 a.m., March futures were trading at $4.8300, up 20.7 cents from...