By Laura Mandaro
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Natural-gas futures turned lower Thursday after a U.S. government report on supplies showed a weekly withdrawal on the low side of expectations. The Energy Information Administration said a net 100 billion cubic feet in natural gas was withdrawn from storage last week. Analysts polled by Platts had forecast a withdrawal between 99 bcf and 103 bcf. Some other surveys, from Dow Jones and Bloomberg, for instance, had pegged the withdrawal at around 105 bcf. "After several weeks of bullish misses relative to expectations, observers may have been fooled into more agressive estimates," wrote Citi Futures Perspective analyst Tim Evans. Natural gas for January NG12F -1.24% delivery was down 4 cents, or 1.4%, at $3.11 per million British thermal units.
