As traders looked ahead to the latest round of government inventory data, expected to show a much lighter-than-average weekly withdrawal, natural gas futures probed both sides of even early Thursday. The February Nymex contract was off 1.5 cents to $3.867/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET but ventured as high as $3.931 earlier in the morning.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

For the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, estimates have been pointing to a lighter-than-average withdrawal in the 50s Bcf range.

Responses to a Reuters poll ranged from withdrawals of 83 Bcf to 31 Bcf, with a 50 Bcf median. The median of 10 estimates submitted to Bloomberg’s survey as of early Thursday was a 53 Bcf withdrawal, with expectations ranging from minus 76 Bcf to minus 39...