As traders prepared to digest a potential surplus-trimming result from the latest government inventory data, natural gas futures rebounded in early trading Thursday.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The June Nymex contract was up 3.9 cents to $1.971/MMBtu as of 8:51 a.m. ET, clawing back a good chunk of the previous session’s 5.9-cent decline.

Pre-report estimates were pointing to a somewhat lighter-than-average injection for this week’s U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) natural gas storage report, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET.

NGI modeled a 56 Bcf injection for the latest EIA print, which covers changes to Lower 48 stocks during the week ending April 26. The five-year average for the period is a 72 Bcf injection, while the year-earlier change was a build of 62 Bcf, EIA data show.

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