1002 ET - U.S. natural gas futures are higher with the market looking to weekly storage data due at 10:30 a.m. ET. Analysts in a WSJ survey predict a 21 Bcf storage injection, which would put stocks 173 Bcf above the five-year average, down from a 185 Bcf surplus the previous week. Meanwhile, hotter weather into early September and LNG feedgas demand reaching a two-month high as Freeport and Corpus Christi return to full strength "offer a bullish bias into today's September contract final settlement," Eli Rubin of EBW Analytics says in a note. Nymex natural gas is up 2.4% at $2.911/mmBtu.