Natural gas futures were down slightly in early trading Thursday as the market prepared to price in the latest government inventory data, expected to show a slightly tighter-than-average build, albeit with a string of triple-digit injections lining up in the subsequent weeks.

The June Nymex contract was off 1.2 cents to $2.179/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

Surveys show market expectations for the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 10:30 a.m. ET storage report centered around a build in the mid to upper 70s Bcf. EIA recorded a 76 Bcf build in the year-earlier period, while the five-year average is an 87 Bcf injection.

Predictions submitted to Reuters as of Wednesday ranged from injections of 65 Bcf to 82 Bcf, with a median of 76 Bcf. Bloomberg’s poll generated a...