** Shares of U.S. natural gas companies rise, tracking natgas futures NGA/
** U.S. natgas futures NGc1 up 8% at $4.44 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), putting the contract on track for its highest close since December 2022
** Natural gas prices rise on record flows to liquefied natural gas export plants and forecasts for higher demand next week than previously expected
** Traders said prices also gained support on worries gas exports from Canada to the U.S. could decline due to the start of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico
** Natgas firms NextDecade NEXT.O up 4.5%, CNX Resources CNX.N rises 3.7% and EQT Corp EQT.N up 1.7%
** ETFs United States Natural Gas Fund UNG.P up 6.5% and ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas BOIL.P rises 12.7%
(Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru)
((Pooja.Menon@thomsonreuters.com;))
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