Natural gas futures pulled back in early trading Thursday as the market continued to assess the implications of overseas price gains and a shrinking domestic storage surplus. 

After rallying 18.2 cents in Wednesday’s trade, the September Nymex contract was off 5.4 cents to $2.905/MMBtu at around 8:55 a.m. ET. 

Domestic natural gas futures soared higher in Wednesday’s session, coinciding with gains in Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) prices on news of a potential labor strike that would impact Australian LNG.

Labor unions in Australia have escalated negotiations with Woodside Energy Group Ltd. and Chevron Corp. by voting overwhelmingly to go on strike if necessary. The move sets the stage for potential work stoppages that could put nearly 10% of global liquefied natural...