Propelled in part by what analysts characterized as bullish technical factors, natural gas futures continued higher in early trading Thursday ahead of the latest round of government inventory data. After rallying 18.0 cents in the previous session, the April Nymex contract was up another 9.3 cents to $4.841/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Predictions ahead of the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, have been pointing to a withdrawal in the 70s Bcf for the week ended March 11.

Estimates submitted to Bloomberg as of Wednesday showed a median prediction for a 73 Bcf decrease for last week. Withdrawal predictions ranged from 68 Bcf to 87 Bcf. Reuters’ poll spanned forecasts for withdrawals of 53 Bcf to 87 Bcf, with a median...