0925 ET - U.S. natural gas futures are lower as the market awaits weekly inventory data from the EIA, due at 10:30 a.m. ET. Analysts in a WSJ survey expected a 31 Bcf storage build, slightly smaller than the previous week's increase but above the five-year average for the week. The next five days "may mark the last major national cooling demand boost of the summer," Eli Rubin of EBW Analytics says in a note. While a bullish storage surprise could lend near-term support, fading heat, an expected increase in supply from the Permian basin and the storage surplus "underscore weak fundamentals in the end of summer." Nymex natural gas is off 1% at $2.662/mmBtu.