With the market expecting a much larger injection week/week from the latest round of government inventory data Thursday, natural gas futures skidded lower in early trading. The September Nymex contract was down 3.7 cents to $4.022/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Estimates leading up to today’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, suggest a net injection in the upper 40s Bcf. 

A Bloomberg survey of nine analysts produced a range of injection estimates from 38 Bcf to 58 Bcf, with a median build of 47 Bcf. Reuters polled 16 analysts, whose estimates were in a tighter range and had a median injection of 49 Bcf. 

NGI modeled a 53 Bcf build for the upcoming report, which covers changes during the week ended Aug. 6. Last year, EIA...