With the market eyeing the upcoming release of government storage data, expected to reveal a surplus-shrinking spring injection, natural gas futures paused their recent downtrend in early trading Thursday.

After finishing in the red for three straight sessions to open the week, the June Nymex contract was hovering close to even as of around 8:45 a.m. ET, up 0.4 cents to $2.174/MMBtu.

Based on surveys, expectations are for the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 10:30 a.m. ET. storage report to reveal a lighter-than-average injection in the low to mid 50s Bcf for the week ending April 28.

Results of a Reuters poll released Wednesday showed injection expectations ranging from 47 Bcf to 60 Bcf, with a median of 51 Bcf. Bloomberg’s survey showed a narrower range and a...