U.S. oil futures gave up modest gains Wednesday, falling prey to an apparent bout of profit-taking, analysts said, after a larger-than-expected decline in domestic crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was flat at $57.56 a barrel after trading on both sides of unchanged following data that showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 6.5 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 15. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast, on average, a decline of 3.2 million barrels. A 1.2 million barrel rise in gasoline inventories may have contributed to the lackluster tone, analysts said. Analysts had forecast a 1.1 million barrel rise.
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