By Reg Curren April 7 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas futures fluctuated in New York before a government report tomorrow that will probably show a bigger-than-average expansion in stockpiles. The Energy Department report may show that inventories rose 30 billion cubic feet last week, based on the median of 13 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The five-year average change for the week is a gain of 11 billion. "Conditions just don't warrant" higher prices, Michael Fitzpatrick, vice president of energy at MF Global in New York, said in a telephone interview. "I think we've put in the high for this recent rally yesterday." Natural gas for May delivery gained 0.5 cent to $4.101 per million British thermal units at 9:53 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $4.173 and as low as $4.061 per million Btu. Futures rose as high as $4.334 per million Btu during trading yesterday, rallying 14 percent from a six-month low of $3.81 on April 1, before ending lower on the day.

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