SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Natural-gas futures turned higher Thursday, after the Energy Information Administration reported a 14 billion cubic foot decline in U.S. inventories for the week ended April 5. That was a bit below estimates. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a decline between 20 billion cubic feet and 24 billion. Total stocks now stand at 1.673 trillion cubic feet, down 804 billion cubic feet from the year-ago level and 66 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. May natural gas     (ngk13)   was at $4.13 per million British thermal units, up 5 cents, or 1.2%. It was trading at $4.05 shortly before the data.