After ending Thursday down 6.2 cents at $3.447/MMBtu, NYMEX February natural gas futures climbed overnight ahead of Friday's open and options expiry at the close of business, with unsettled fundamentals.
At 7:10 am ET (1210 GMT) the contract was up 5.1 cents at $3.498/MMBtu.
Natural gas inventories equaled the second-largest withdrawal since records began in the latest storage report week ended Jan. 19, for which the EIA outlined a net 288 Bcf drawdown.
This beat the full range of estimates ahead of the day as well as both the 164 Bcf five-year average pull and a 137 Bcf year-ago withdrawal.
Total working gas stocks are currently 2,296 Bcf, or 519 Bcf below the year-ago level and 486 Bcf below the five-year average of 2,782 Bcf.
Weather during the storage report period bolstered heating demand, but conditions have since moderated, with the EIA's latest report showing weekly average temperature in the contiguous US rising to 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the week to Jan. 24 from 35 degrees F in the week earlier.
