After an earlier dip, natural gas futures recovered to ultimately close out Wednesday’s session nearly flat as the prospects for more cold in early January appeared to dim. 

With a sharp increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand and the potential for a much larger-than-normal storage withdrawal, the January Nymex contract settled at $2.677, down a half-cent from Tuesday’s close. February climbed one-tenth of a cent to $2.681.

Spot gas prices were mixed, but the Northeast mounted more gains as snow fell on the region. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 14.0 cents to $3.385.

The blockbuster winter storm pummeling the East Coast notwithstanding, any momentum in the futures market was sapped early Wednesday as the latest weather data decreased the risk in achieving a...