Washington (Platts)--5Dec2012/1218 pm EST/1718 GMT

The US Energy Information Administration on Thursday will estimate a natural gas storage withdrawal of between 64 and 68 Bcf for the week ended Friday, according to a Platts poll of analysts.

A drawdown within expectations would be above both 14-Bcf pull from stocks last year and the five-year-average drawdown of 51 Bcf, according to EIA. As a result, both the 26-Bcf surplus over last year and 190 Bcf surplus over the five-year average should narrow.

Analyst expectations ranged from a withdrawal of 48 Bcf to 79 Bcf.

EIA estimated a 4-Bcf injection for the week that ended November 23, lifting stocks to 3.877 Bcf.

Gelber & Associates analyst Kent Bayazitoglu estimated a 65-Bcf pull from stocks because of colder weather last week across the northern US. The week ended Friday "was the coldest we have seen so far this winter," he said.

Credit Suisse analyst Stefan Revielle said the total of 164 heating degree days, which increased by 40 during the reference week, reflects temperatures 32.3% cooler than last year and 1.2% cooler than normal.

Despite the expected one-week deficit, the return of mild weather and the possibility of a withdrawal in the single digits in next week's EIA report may send storage back to surplus and "likely keep a lid on near-term rallies," Revielle said.

--Anastasia Gnezditskaia, ana_gnezditskaia@platts.com --Edited by Jeff Barber, jeff_barber@platts.com