1047 ET - U.S. natural gas inventories rose more than expected last week, while the increase was small enough to reduce the storage surplus over the five-year average. Underground storage rose by 40 billion cubic feet to 3,254 Bcf, or 148 Bcf more than the 2021-2025 average, the EIA says. The storage injection was larger than the 28 Bcf estimate in a WSJ survey of analysts, but smaller than the five-year average 52 Bcf build for the week. Nymex natural gas futures are off 1.6% at $2.777/mmBtu.