By Claudia Assis
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures extended gains Wednesday after a government report showed a smaller-than-expected increase in crude supplies. Oil for March delivery added 93 cents, or 1.1%, to $87.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Just before the report, it traded at $87.51 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration reported a rise of 1.9 million barrels of oil to the nation's supply for the week ended Feb. 4. Analysts polled by Platts had expected an increase of 2.4 million barrels. The EIA also reported gasoline supplies rose 4.7 million barrels for the week, which contrasted with analyst expectations of a rise by 3.1 million barrels. Inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, rose 300,000 barrels, the EIA said. The analysts had seen them down 1.4 million barrels.
