Natural gas storage levels in the U.S. dropped less than expected last week, but remain 2.3 percent below year-ago levels, a government report said Wednesday.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states fell by 143 billion cubic feet to about 2.88 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Dec. 26.

The report was issued a day early due to the New Year's Day holiday.

Analysts had expected a drop of between 157 billion to 162 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The inventory level was above the five-year average of about 2.82 trillion cubic feet, but below last year's storage level of about 2.95 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.

Natural gas tumbled 35.5 cents to $5.50 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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