NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 1:08 ET — Regular session
- Range Resources fell about 3% as U.S. natural gas futures slid after the latest storage report.
- EIA data showed a 38 billion cubic feet withdrawal, leaving inventories slightly above the five-year average.
- Shares of Appalachian gas peers also traded lower into year-end.
Range Resources Corp shares fell 3.0% to $34.99 in Wednesday afternoon trading, after touching a session low of $34.97. The stock had earlier traded as high as $35.98.
The move tracked a sharp pullback in U.S. natural gas futures after the latest government storage report. February NYMEX natural gas was down about 6% at roughly $3.74 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), Wall Street Journal market data showed.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said utilities withdrew 38 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas from storage in the week ended Dec. 26, leaving total inventories at 3,375 Bcf, or about 3.375 trillion cubic feet. The total was about 2% below a year earlier and about 2% above the five-year average, EIA data showed.
That matters for Range now because it sells most of what it produces into a gas market where small swings in winter demand can move prices fast. A smaller withdrawal signals weaker heating demand than traders had been positioned for, and it can pressure shares of gas-heavy producers that are closely tied to benchmark pricing.
The storage report hit at noon under the EIA’s holiday release schedule, a timing shift that can amplify moves during thin year-end trading.
Other Appalachian-focused gas producers also traded lower. EQT was down about 2.5%, Antero Resources fell about 2.7%, and CNX Resources slipped about 1.4%.
Range is an independent producer focused on the Appalachian Basin, where natural gas and natural gas liquids dominate output. For investors, the key variable is the expected strip price — the forward curve traders use to value future production — rather than any single day’s spot move.
A gas move of this size typically puts the spotlight back on weather revisions, production and storage, rather than company-specific headlines. Traders also watch liquefied natural gas (LNG) export demand because U.S. terminals can pull large volumes from the domestic market when running hard.
Energy markets can also be noisy around year-end, when taxes and inventory positioning distort weekly data. “Year end numbers tend to be distorted,” said Josh Young, chief investment officer for Bison Interests, in a note on EIA data. Reuters
For Range, the near-term question is whether the futures curve stabilizes after the storage surprise or extends lower if forecasts turn warmer. A softer curve tends to weigh on gas producers’ expected cash flow and can nudge investors back toward balance-sheet and hedging disclosures.
The next big checkpoints are January weather forecasts and the next EIA storage update, with traders parsing whether withdrawals accelerate as winter progresses. If inventories remain comfortably above the five-year norm, the market often demands a colder outlook — or stronger LNG pull — to sustain rallies.
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