Natural gas futures were rallying through midday Thursday as the market continued to mull the balance implications of a storage result that landed on the bullish end of expectations. Cash prices, traded for Monday delivery, were generally pushing higher.

Here’s the latest:

  • May Nymex contract up 4.8 cents to $1.766/MMBtu at around 2:10 p.m. ET, climbing late in the session
  • Prices failed to rally immediately following latest storage report

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 36 Bcf withdrawal from Lower 48 storage for the week ended March 22, and the market appeared ambivalent as the number went live. The withdrawal was on the higher end of the range of expectations and trimmed the surplus versus the five-year average to 669 Bcf. It also marked the...