Coming off gains in the previous session, natural gas futures reversed lower early Thursday as traders prepared to turn their attention to the latest round government inventory data. The May Nymex contract was down 3.2 cents to $2.488/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Predictions ahead of today’s U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, have been pointing to an injection in the low 20s Bcf for the week ended April 2.

A Bloomberg survey of 10 analysts pegged the injection between 16 Bcf and 28 Bcf, with a median build of 22 Bcf. A Reuters poll produced estimates ranging from injections of 10 Bcf to 26 Bcf, with a median increase of 21 Bcf. NGI’s model forecast the injection at 23 Bcf.

That compares with an increase in...