NYMEX February natural gas futures settled 11.5 cents higher at $2.382/MMBtu Thursday following the report of a larger-than-expected storage withdrawal. US natural gas in storage dropped 113 Bcf to 3.643 Tcf for the week ended January 1, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday, above consensus expectations of a withdrawal between 93 Bcf and 97 Bcf. A 4-Bcf reclassification of base gas to working gas made the implied flow from storage for the week 117 Bcf. The withdrawal was right around the 116-Bcf withdrawal reported at this time in 2015 yet below the 140-Bcf five-year average withdrawal, according to EIA data. “The overall message is that the baseline supply/demand balance has tightened at least somewhat, with either some moderation in supply or greater sensitivity to winter cold than had been anticipated,” Tim Evans, energy futures specialist with Citi Futures, said in a note. Article continues below… Evans added the pull […]