The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported an injection of 78 Bcf into natural gas storage for the week ended May 5. The result fell within the range of market expectations, leaving Nymex natural gas futures to forge ahead.

Ahead of the 10:30 a.m. ET government report, the June futures contract was down a half-cent at $2.186/MMBtu. The prompt month inched up to $2.197 when the EIA data was released. By around 11 a.m. ET, it was up 5.1 cents to $2.242.

Prior to the report, predictions submitted to Reuters ranged from injections of 65 Bcf to 82 Bcf, with a median of 76 Bcf. Bloomberg’s poll generated a narrower span of estimates and landed at a median of 79 Bcf. The Wall Street Journal’s survey produced an average injection expectation of 74 Bcf. NGI...