09:17 AM EST, 01/03/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Natural gas prices fell early on Friday ahead of fresh inventory data even as forecasts see cold temperatures continuing for eastern states.

Gas for February delivery was last seen down US$0.18 to US$3.48 per million British thermal units.

The drop comes despite long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service showing temperatures for states east of the Mississippi River will be much colder than seasonal over its six to 10 day outlook, boosting heating demand for the fuel.

"Recent weather data maintains a frosty overall US weather pattern Jan 3-15 as a couple frigid weather systems sweep across the eastern 1/2 to 2/3 of the US. The weather data isn't quite as frigid as it once was for Jan 7-11 but is still impressively cold," NatGasWeather noted.

The Energy Information Administration will release fresh storage data later on Friday morning, with a draw 134-billion cubic foot draw on stocks expected, according to Celsius Energy. The agency last week pegged inventories at 3.53-trillion cubic feet, 4.9% above the five-year average.