March Nymex natural gas futures settled the Thursday regular trading session down 5.0 cents day/day, turning negative after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a storage withdrawal that was within market expectations.

At A Glance:

  • 197 Bcf storage draw meets expectations
  • Neat-term warmth pressures
  • Spot gas prices move higher

The front-month contract drifted on either side of unchanged early and held the modest upside just ahead of the midmorning release of the most recent storage data from EIA. Following the 10:30 a.m. ET print, the March contract sank to a $2.034/MMBtu low before ending the session at $2.050.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. ended a two-day retreat that took it to its lowest level since late December, adding 8.5 cents to $2.170.

EIA...