A moderating forecast for mid-June temperatures kept the pressure on natural gas futures early Thursday as traders awaited the latest round of government inventory data. The July Nymex contract was down 1.0 cents to $3.065/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Estimates for this week’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, have been wide ranging. Major surveys show consensus clustering around a build in the mid-90s Bcf.

Reuters polled 17 analysts, whose estimates ranged from a build of 86 Bcf to 107 Bcf, with a median of 95 Bcf. A Bloomberg survey of 11 analysts had a tighter range of projections and landed at a median of 94 Bcf. The average estimate of a Wall Street Journal poll also was 94 Bcf. NGI modeled a 95 Bcf injection for the...