By Moming Zhou
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures erased their earlier gains Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration reported a bigger-than-expected buildup in U.S. gasoline inventories last week, as demand largely remained unchanged while gasoline production and imports rose from a week ago. Motor gasoline inventories rose by 2.9 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 2, the EIA reported. Analysts polled by Platts had expected an increase of 1.3 million. After the data, crude for November delivery slid 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $70.76 a barrel. It was up 0.8% before the data. In its weekly update, the EIA also reported a drop of 1 million barrels in crude inventories, as imports fell by 4.5%. Analysts had expected a modest increase. Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 700,000 barrels, the EIA said.
