Colder overnight forecast trends helped push natural gas futures higher early Thursday as the market prepared to shift its focus to the latest release of government inventory data. The January Nymex contract was up 9.5 cents to $3.897/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Expectations ahead of the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, were pointing to a withdrawal in the high 80s to low 90s Bcf, which would compare with last year’s 118 Bcf draw. The five-year average pull is 114 Bcf.

A Bloomberg survey as of Wednesday produced a range of withdrawal estimates from 77 Bcf to 91 Bcf, with a median of 85 Bcf. Reuters polled 16 analysts, whose estimates ranged from withdrawals of 63 Bcf to 99 Bcf, with a median withdrawal of 88 Bcf. NGI...