The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a withdrawal of 130 Bcf from natural gas storage for the week ended Jan. 1, much steeper than the pull a year earlier but slightly off market expectations. Nymex natural gas futures traded in a narrow range in the wake of the storage release.

EIA storage Jan 1

Ahead of the EIA report, the February contract was up two-tenths of a cent to $2.718/MMBtu, and the prompt month inched up further to around $2.723 when the data was released. By 11 a.m. ET, however, the February contract was trading at $2.709, down seven-tenths of a cent from Wednesday’s close.

With the covered week bookended by the Monday after Christmas and New Year’s Day – and the still raging pandemic interrupting Americans’ daily rhythms in between — observers said it...