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NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Natural gas futures slid Thursday, pressured by abundant supplies after government data showed an average-size withdrawal from inventories of the fuel last week. Natural gas for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 11.9 cents, or 2.61%, lower at $4.44 a million British thermal units after reaching a low of $4.415/MMBtu earlier in the day. Although data released Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed a draw from storage that was close to the five-year average withdrawal for the same week, storage pulls are likely to diminish in the coming weeks as mild weather curbs gas heating demand. Meanwhile, supplies from onshore shale-rock formations remain robust. The gas market "is just terribly weak," said Rich Ilczyszyn, an analyst with brokerage Lind-Waldock in Chicago. "I expect more downward pressure yet." Many gas producers are predicting that prices are heading toward the key $4/MMBtu level, Ilczyszyn said. The EIA reported Thursday a draw from storage of 111 billion cubic feet for the week ended March 5, matching last year's draw for that week and just above the five-year-average pull, which was 109 bcf. Total gas in storage is 1.626 trillion cubic feet, 1.2% above the five-year average and 4.2% below last year's level as of March 5. "We're still looking at a 'near average' storage withdrawal that leaves the total at a 'near average' level for this time of year," wrote Tim Evans, an energy analyst with Citi Futures Perspective in New York, in a note to clients Thursday. "That's not the kind of result that will convert bears to bulls." Moderate temperatures are likely to curb the demand for natural gas for heating as spring approaches, placing downward pressure on prices amid ample supplies. Commodity Weather Group, a Bethesda, Md., private forecaster, was predicting above-normal temperatures in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and much of the Midwest from March 16 to March 20. From March 21 to March 25, CWG was expecting warmer-than-normal temperatures along much of the East Coast. FUTURES SETTLEMENT NET CHANGE Nymex Apr $4.440 -11.9c Nymex May $4.506 -11.8c Nymex Jun $4.579 -11.7c CASH HUB RANGE PREVIOUS DAY Henry Hub $4.43-$4.53 $4.40-$4.47 Transco 65 $4.37-$4.45 $4.39-$4.44 Tex East M3 $4.69-$4.79 $4.66-$4.80 Transco Z6 $4.70-$4.80 $4.64-$4.85 SoCal $4.65-$4.70 $4.63-$4.69 El Paso Perm $4.39-$4.44 $4.36-$4.44 El Paso SJ $4.40-$4.43 $4.36-$4.41 Waha $4.38-$4.42 $4.35-$4.46 Katy $4.40-$4.47 $4.39-$4.47 -By Christine Buurma, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2143; christine.buurma@dowjones.com