The latest natural gas storage report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) surprised the market with a bigger-than-expected 92 Bcf injection for the week ended April 19. Natural gas futures initially responded by trading lower before narrowing their day/day decline.

The May Nymex contract was trading 3.6 cents lower day/day at around $1.617/MMBtu in the minutes leading up to the 10:30 a.m. ET government report. As the print hit the screen, the prompt month traded as low as $1.601 before bouncing higher. By 11 a.m. ET, May futures were trading down 1.4 cents from Wednesday’s regular session close of $1.653.

The reported build was higher than the five-year average of 59 Bcf and the year-ago injection of 77 Bcf. The EIA print increased Lower 48 inventories to 2,425...