Natural gas futures were marginally higher in early trading Friday as the market continued to mull balances following a larger-than-expected storage withdrawal, and as forecasts hinted at colder temperatures developing later this month.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

After adding 3.4 cents in the previous session, the March Nymex contract was up 1.2 cents to $2.442/MMBtu at around 8:40 a.m. ET.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a 217 Bcf withdrawal from U.S. natural gas storage facilities for the week ended Feb. 3. The print landed on the bullish side of expectations and outpaced the five-year average 171 Bcf withdrawal.

Total Lower 48 working gas in underground storage stood at 2,366 Bcf as of Feb. 3, 117 Bcf (plus-5.2%) higher than the five-year average, according to...