The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a withdrawal of 87 Bcf natural gas from underground storage for the week ended Dec. 16. The result fell shy of expectations and sent Nymex natural gas futures lower.

Just ahead of the 10:30 ET government report, the January futures contract was up 3.0 cents at $5.362/MMBtu. The prompt month slid slightly to around $5.325 when the EIA data was released.

By 11 a.m. ET, it had dropped 7.2 cents to $5.260.

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Prior to the report, analysts had anticipated a withdrawal in the high 80s Bcf to low 90s Bcf.

A Bloomberg survey found withdrawal estimates ranging from 80 Bcf to 96 Bcf, with...