Oil prices fell on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 1.2 million barrels in crude supplies for the week ended Nov. 27. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday had reported a 1.6 million-barrel rise, while analysts polled by Platts expected supplies to be down by 1.2 million barrels. Gasoline supplies rose by 100,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose 3.1 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. January crude traded at $40.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, immediately after the data were released, down 92 cents, or 2.1 %. Prices traded at $41.26 immediately before the report but spiked briefly to as high as $41.83 in the minutes ahead of the data. The spike followed a news report suggesting OPEC had agreed to reduce output, but market participants questioned the veracity of the report.
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