Natural gas futures picked up gains toward the end of the trading week after a larger-than-expected withdrawal from US storage. Natural gas has been building momentum this month as traders prepare for frigid temperatures that could bolster home heating demand in the coming months.

January natural gas futures rose $0.052, or 1.54%, to $3.43 per million British thermal units (Btu) at 15:16 GMT on Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas is poised for a weekly gain of 11%. Year-to-date, prices have rallied 48%.

New US storage data was the major catalyst toward the end of the trading week.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic natural gas futures declined by 190 billion cubic feet for the week ending Dec. 6, down from the previous week’s drawdown of 30 billion cubic feet.

The consensus estimate suggested a withdrawal of 170 billion cubic feet.

EIA numbers showed a broad decline, led by the Midwest (60 billion cubic feet), the South Central (59 billion cubic feet), and the East (58 billion cubic feet).

In total, US supplies stand at 3.747 trillion cubic feet, up 67 billion cubic feet from the same time a year ago. They are also up 165 billion cubic feet above the five-year of 3.582 trillion cubic feet.

Winter weather has blanketed the United States recently, and outlooks suggest that the US could witness even more frigid temperatures heading into the Christmas break.

But while cold weather could further fuel the recent rally, investors might be baking the situation into the cake.

In other energy commodities, January West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures fell $0.91, or 1.29%, to $69.38 per barrel. February Brent crude futures tumbled $0.87, or 1.18%, to $72.65 a barrel. January gasoline futures shed $0.0248, or 1.27%, to $1.9605 per gallon. January heating oil futures slipped $0.0141, or 0.63%, to $2.2092 a gallon.