Crude Oil Futures Climb

Oil futures slid early Wednesday after the government released inventory figures that were deemed bearish by energy traders, but by the end of the session the losses had been erased.

November light sweet crude closed up 77 cents to $80.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Reformulated gasoline lost 1 cent to $2.03 a gallon, and heating oil was fractionally better at $2.18 a gallon.

Near-term natural gas moved 6 cents higher to $6.42 per million British thermal units. The October contract traded as the front month for the last time. ...