Oil turns higher as report shows big supply drop (by Claudia Assis)

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures turned higher Wednesday after a weekly government report showed a larger-than-expected decline in supplies. Crude for October delivery (clv2) rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $96.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $96.77 a barrel before the report. The Energy Information Administration said oil supplies declined 5.4 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 17. The EIA also reported gasoline inventories down 1 million barrels, and supplies of distillates up 1 million barrels. Analysts polled by Platts had expected the EIA to show a decline in crude supplies by 2 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles were seen down 1.25 million barrels, while distillates inventories came in as expected.