Encumbered by a weak near-term demand outlook, natural gas futures skidded lower early Thursday as traders and analysts looked ahead to the latest round of government inventory data. The April Nymex contract was off 2.1 cents to $2.497/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET, while May was down 3.2 cents to $2.536.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

For this week’s U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. ET release, median estimates have clustered around a withdrawal in the low to mid-20s Bcf. 

The median of a Bloomberg survey showed a withdrawal of 21 Bcf, with responses ranging from draws of 14 Bcf to 33 Bcf.

Reuters’ weekly poll found pull estimates from 16 Bcf to 41 Bcf, with a median decrease of 25 Bcf. Respondents to a Wall Street Journal survey reported...