Coming off heavy selling in the previous session, and with traders preparing to digest the latest government storage data, natural gas futures were trading slightly higher early Thursday. The June Nymex contract was up 3.1 cents to $1.975/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

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At 10:30 a.m. ET the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is set to issue its weekly natural gas storage inventory report for the week ending May 1, with estimates pointing to the first of many triple-digit injections this month.

A Bloomberg survey showed injection estimates ranging from 101 Bcf to 114 Bcf, with a median of 111 Bcf. A Reuters poll of 17 analysts had a wider range that included a low of 95 Bcf and produced a median injection of 106 Bcf. A Wall Street Journal poll’s results also averaged 106 Bcf, while NGI projected a 109 Bcf build.

This compares with the 96 Bcf increase in storage recorded by the EIA in the same week last year and the five-year average build of 74 Bcf for that week.

“It was cooler than normal over the eastern half of the U.S., while warmer than normal over the western half” during this week’s report period, according to NatGasWeather. “Our algorithm predicts a 105 Bcf injection.”

Coming off a 19.0-cent sell-off in Wednesday’s session, natural gas futures could continue lower later today if EIA’s report comes in on the higher side of expectations, analysts at EBW Analytics Group said.

Wednesday’s “sharp reversal was partly due to the predictable news” that the outage following an explosion on Texas Eastern Transmission Co.’s system in Kentucky “would have little or no impact on gas supply due to re-routing,” the EBW analysts said. “The inability to sustain even part of Monday’s pre-explosion gains, however, suggests that despite rapid fall-off in domestic production, bearish sentiment remains strong.

“It would not surprise us if one or more large funds has decided to aggressively short the market again, betting that” liquefied natural gas exports “will crater — driving injection-season prices much lower.”

As for the overnight weather data, there were no major changes in NatGasWeather’s updated outlook, with the forecaster highlighting continued cooler-than-normal conditions over the Midwest and Northeast through the middle of next week.

“However, Texas, the South and Southeast remain near perfect for light demand,” NatGasWeather said. “At issue is the May 14-20 period is still forecast to warm into the 60s and 70s across the northern U.S. for light demand.”

June crude oil futures were trading $2.18 higher at $26.17/bbl at around 8:45 a.m. ET, while June RBOB gasoline was up about 7.9 cents to around 95.6 cents/gal.