By Claudia Assis
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures turned higher Thursday after a weekly government report showed a steep decline in inventories in the latest week. Crude for August delivery CLQ2 +0.31% advanced 20 cents, or 0.2%, to $87.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil had traded at $87.56 shortly before the data. The Energy Information Administration said crude supplies declined 4.3 million barrels in the week ended June 29. Analysts polled by Platts had expected a decline of 2 million barrels. The EIA also reported a rise of 200,000 barrels for gasoline inventories, and a decline of 1.1 million barrels for supplies of distillates. The analysts surveyed by Platts had expected gasoline stockpiles unchanged and an increase of 500,000 barrels for distillates.
