** Shares of U.S. natural gas companies up, tracking a rise in natgas futures NGA/

** U.S. natural gas futures NGc1 up 2.5% at $3.59 per million British thermal units, putting the contract on track for its highest close since January 30

** Natgas prices jump on rising flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants, forecasts for more demand next week than previously expected, and a drop in the amount of gas in storage after last week's record withdrawal during an Arctic freeze

** Natgas companies: Venture Global VG.N up 3.1%, EQT Corp EQT.N rises 1.3% and CNX Resources CNX.N gains 1.4%; Expand Energy EXE.O and Cheniere Energy LNG.N both climb 1%

** Natgas ETFs: United States Natural Gas Fund UNG.P up 2.7%, while ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas BOIL.P climbs 5.6%

(Reporting by Varun Sahay in Bengaluru)

((Varun.sahay@thomsonreuters.com))