The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a withdrawal from storage of 154 Bcf of natural gas for the week ended Jan. 12, falling short of median estimates. Some analysts pointed to stronger wind generation as the difference.

Ahead of the 10:30 a.m. ET government report, February Nymex futures were trading down 7.2 cents from the prior day at $2.798/MMBtu. The prompt month shaved off another 3.0 to 4.0 cents after the data was released. By around 11 a.m. ET, futures were down 12.1 cents to $2.749.

Before the storage report was issued, NGI modeled a pull of 165 Bcf. The reported print was short of the estimate, but it easily surpassed the five-year average decrease of 126 Bcf and the year-earlier draw of 68 Bcf.

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