NYMEX February natural gas futures traded a narrow range in US overnight trading on expectations of a more modest storage withdrawal but lower-than-average end-of-season supply.
At 7:08 am EST (1208 GMT), the contract was 2.4 cents lower at $3.208/MMBtu, after trading a $3.191-$3.260/MMBtu range.
Milder weather is expected to have significantly slowed US storage withdrawals from the previous week's record high 359 Bcf in the Energy Information Administration's inventory report for the week ending January 12 due at 10:30 am EST.
A consensus estimate by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts is for a 189-Bcf withdrawal, reducing stocks to 2.578 Tcf.
The EIA sees working gas in storage ending the withdrawal season on March 31 at 1.320 Tcf, below the five-year average of 1.697 Tcf, provided draws match the five-year average for the rest of the heating season.
