As traders prepared to digest a potential triple-digit injection from the latest round of government inventory data, and as weather models hinted at hot temperatures developing later this month, natural gas futures probed slightly higher early Thursday. The July Nymex contract was up 1.8 cents to $3.147/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Estimates have been pointing to an injection in the 90s to low 100s Bcf for this week’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Bloomberg survey of nine analysts produced an injection range between 91 Bcf and 104 Bcf, with a median forecast of 100 Bcf. A Wall Street Journal poll of 13 analysts had a wider range up to 111 Bcf, with an average build of 100 Bcf. Reuters polled 19 analysts, whose...