As traders looked ahead to the latest round of government inventory data, and as analysts noted signs of production recovering following declines earlier this week, natural gas futures were down sharply in early trading Thursday. The December Nymex contract was off 9.7 cents to $3.194/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Predictions for the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 10:30 a.m. ET storage report have been pointing to a lighter-than-average build for the week ending Oct. 23.

A Bloomberg survey of six analysts showed injection estimates ranging from 17 Bcf to 39 Bcf, with a median of 37 Bcf. Reuters polled 16 analysts, whose estimates ranged from increases of 17 Bcf to 46 Bcf, with a median injection of 38 Bcf. NGI projected a 42 Bcf injection.

Last year, EIA recorded...