With forecasts honing in on a turn toward chillier conditions later this month, and with the market continuing to mull balances following the latest government inventory data, natural gas futures extended their recent gains in early trading Friday.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The January Nymex contract was up 21.7 cents to $6.179/MMBtu at around 8:40 a.m. ET, adding to a 23.9-cent rally posted in the previous session.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a 21 Bcf withdrawal from U.S. natural gas storage facilities during the week ended Dec. 2, on the lighter side of pre-report expectations and bearish versus the five-year average withdrawal of 49 Bcf.

“On a weather-adjusted basis, we estimate the market was more than 5 Bcf/d oversupplied for the second consecutive week,”...