By Anthony Harrup

U.S. natural gas inventories likely saw a second consecutive below-average withdrawal last week, increasing the size of the storage surplus after a relatively mild start to January, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal.

Natural gas in underground storage likely fell by 103 billion cubic feet to 3,082 Bcf in the week ended Jan. 16, according to the average estimate of 11 analysts, brokers and traders. Estimates range from a withdrawal of 76 Bcf to a draw of 116 Bcf.

The expected decline is smaller than the five-year average for the week of 191 Bcf, and would increase the surplus over the average to 194 Bcf from 106 Bcf the week before.

Storage draws are widely expected to increase in the following weeks, however, as extreme cold forecast for the second half of January is seen raising heating demand and possibly causing production freeze-offs.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release weekly natural gas storage data on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. EST.

Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 21, 2026 13:14 ET (18:14 GMT)

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