North American natural gas prices slumped for most of the week before the potential for colder weather provided a minor rally Wednesday and Thursday.

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The New York Mercantile Exchange January natural gas futures contract settled at $5.962/MMBtu, up 23.9 cents on the day. February futures climbed 20.3 cents to $5.820.

Mild weather and U.S. production regularly above 100 Bcf/d is also helping to boost storage stocks, keeping prices in check. On Thursday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced a paltry withdrawal of 21 Bcf. After falling more than 350 Bcf below the five-year average at the end of summer, analysts now see stocks flipping back to a surplus in the next couple of weeks.

NatGasWeather said Thursday afternoon, “There’s potential for a cold U.S....