Against a backdrop of potentially bullish developments on the export front, natural gas futures extended their recent gains early Thursday as traders prepared to factor in the latest government inventory data.

After surging 36.9 cents higher in the previous session, the September Nymex contract was up another 23.7 cents to $8.439/MMBtu as of around 8:45 a.m. ET.

Estimates ahead of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 10:30 a.m. ET storage report showed expectations focused around a net injection near 40 Bcf for the week ended Aug. 5.

Surveys by Bloomberg, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal all produced a range of injection estimates from 30 Bcf to 44 Bcf. The Bloomberg and Reuters polls each produced a median injection estimate of 40 Bcf, while the Wall Street...