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NEW YORK — Energy futures rose sharply Wednesday after the government reported unexpected declines in supplies of crude and heating oil last week and the Federal Reserve announced a plan to help banks weather the credit crisis.
Crude supplies fell by 700,000 barrels last week, according to a weekly inventory report from the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration. Analysts had expected a 100,000- barrel increase.
And supplies of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 800,000 barrels; analysts had expected inventories to rise by 300,000 barrels.
Oil inventories had fallen for several straight weeks.
