This morning, the EIA reported that for the week ending January 23, 2026 (shortly after this cold front materialized), the lower 48 states pulled -242 Bcf of gas out of storage. Inventories are still above the 5-year average, but now only by about 5%. Given the heavy heating demand, we can expect the next couple of reporting weeks to be heavy too.

The reported withdrawal was within the estimated range (although it was quite wide), yet the NYMEX steadily climbed this afternoon, the March front month contract gaining 18 cents to $3.92 US/mm.

On top of yesterday’s GLGT force majeure, an additional capacity constraint for the pipeline was announced; unplanned maintenance requires Emerson Eastbound flows to be reduced by another 157,500 GJs/d until the end of February.