** Shares of natural gas companies rise as natgas futures soar 9% in volatile trade
** U.S. natgas prices up 9.4% at $3.62 per mln British thermal units (mmBtu), due to winter storms battering the eastern half of the country, causing output to decline as some oil and gas wells and pipes start to freeze
** LNG firms - NextDecade up 1.7%, EQT Corp rises 1.6%, New Fortress Energy up 1%
** ETFs United States Natural Gas Fund climbs 8.2% and ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas up 9.4%
(Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru)
((Pooja.Menon@thomsonreuters.com;))