09:27 AM EST, 12/16/2021 (MT Newswires) -- Benchmark natural gas prices rose early on Thursday ahead of fresh storage data from the Energy Information Administration.
Gas for January delivery was last seen up US$0.07 to US$3.87 per million British thermal units.
The rise comes even as long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service expect most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains to see seasonal or warmer temperatures for the six to 14-day forecast period.
The Energy Information Administration will release it weekly look at U.S. gas inventories later on Wednesday morning.
"EIA Natural Gas storage on Thursday is looking for a draw of 85 versus a draw of 59 last week, and a draw of 122 same time last year," Robert Yawger, executive director, energy futures, at Mizuho Securities USA, said in a note.