U.S. natural gas futures rose 2% to a one-week high on Wednesday on forecasts for slightly cooler weather and higher heating demand over the next two weeks than previously expected. That increase came even though near-record output caused last week’s storage withdrawal to be smaller-than-usual, as expected. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said utilities pulled 21 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas from storage during the week ended Nov. 19, which was the first withdrawal of the 2021-2022 winter season. That was in line with the 22-bcf draw analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with a decline of 11 bcf in the same week last year and a five-year (2016-2020) average decline of 44 bcf. Last week’s withdrawal cut stockpiles to 3.623 trillion cubic feet (tcf), or 1.6% below the five-year average of 3.681 tcf for this time of year. On […]