Natural gas futures continued to rebound early Friday as the market contemplated lean stockpiles heading into winter, as well as the looming front-month expiration. The October Nymex contract was up 9.7 cents to $5.073/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET. November was trading 10.2 cents higher at $5.145.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a 76 Bcf injection into domestic natural gas stocks for the week ended Sept. 17, essentially in line with market expectations prior to the report.

In the year-earlier period, EIA recorded a 70 Bcf injection, while the five-year average injection is 74 Bcf. The latest build lifted inventories to 3,082 Bcf. However, it left stocks well below the year-earlier level of 3,671 Bcf and the five-year average of 3,311...