NEW YORK, Dec 29 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas inventory levels on average are expected to fall by 147 billion cubic feet when U.S. Energy Information Administration data are released early Thursday, as slightly milder weather last week slowed pulls from storage.
In the weekly Reuters survey of 21 industry traders and analysts, withdrawal estimates for the week ended Dec. 24 ranged from 126 to 169 bcf.
Storage fell an adjusted 130 bcf for the same week last year. The five-year average decline for that week is 118 bcf.
The median draw in the survey was 144 bcf.
The EIA storage report will be issued Thursday at its normal time of 10:30 a.m. EST
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