Natural gas futures retreated in early trading Friday as the market continued to consider the balance implications of the latest government inventory data, and as forecasts continued to show more moderate late summer cooling demand. 

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The September Nymex contract was off 19.4 cents to $8.994/MMBtu as of around 8:45 a.m. ET.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a leaner-than-expected 18 Bcf injection into U.S. natural gas storage for the week ended Aug. 12. That left total Lower 48 working gas in underground storage at 2,519 Bcf for the period, a 367 Bcf (minus 12.7%) deficit to the five-year average.

“Compared to degree days and normal seasonality, the reported injection appears tight/bullish by approximately 0.8 Bcf/d versus the prior five-year...