A two-day rally in natural gas futures ran out of steam Thursday after the third-highest storage withdrawal on record landed in line with expectations and failed to impress.

At A Glance:

  • Print lands near consensus
  • Production at 103.5 Bcf/d
  • Models tease cooler mid-February

After bouncing off double-bottom lows since Tuesday, the February Nymex gas futures contract on Thursday fell 7.0 cents to settle at $2.571/MMBtu. The March contract, waiting in the wings to take over as the front month at open Tuesday, declined 8.2 cents to $2.180. Trade volumes for February were a fraction of March as participants exited positions ahead of expiry.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. rose 4.5 cents to $2.420. Prices remain less volatile with mild weather taking hold into the weekend. 

The...