Today’s storage report came in at a whopping -190 Bcf withdrawal for the week ending Dec 6, clearly on the more extreme side of the range of expectations. After the report released, natural gas prices jumped up, but settled only 9 cents up to a close of $3.48 US/mm.

Even with this big withdrawal, storage inventories are still 165 Bcf above the 5-year average. Most likely, this will be the biggest withdrawal of the month, especially since current temperatures have warmed up since that snap. However, NOAA’s most recent 8-14 Day Outlook is predicting above-average temperatures for most of the US, but below-average temperatures in the south east, so heating demand will likely ramp up in that area.