Helped by dipping first-of-month production numbers, natural gas futures climbed early Monday, continuing to build on gains from late last week.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

After rallying 4.5 cents ahead of Good Friday, the May Nymex contract was up another 2.8 cents to $1.791/MMBtu as of around 8:50 a.m. ET.

Near-term conditions were creating “market noise” for natural gas to start the month, EBW Analytics Group analyst Eli Rubin told clients early Monday.

Last week, the front month rallied off session lows as a larger-than-expected 36 Bcf withdrawal from the U.S. Energy Information Administration lent support by “chipping away at storage surpluses,” according to Rubin.

“Another strong draw this week could couple with a late-season uptick in heating demand and lower production pipeline...