West Texas Intermediate crude advanced for a third day after a U.S. government report showed distillate stockpiles shrank as freezing weather boosted demand for heating fuels. Futures gained as much as 0.5 percent in New York . Distillate supplies , including heating oil and diesel, fell by 2.36 million barrels to 113.8 million in the seven days ended Jan. 31, data from the Energy Information Administration showed yesterday. A second winter storm of the week swept into the Northeast, dumping snow as temperatures dropped. The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil consumer. “It’s mostly due to cold weather and high demand in heating oil in the U.S.,” Gerrit Zambo, an oil trader at Bayerische Landesbank in Munich, said by phone. “Sooner or later it will come down but I wouldn’t bet on falling oil prices in the coming days.” WTI for March delivery rose as much as 52 cents […]