The price of oil was heading down toward $92 a barrel onThursday, near six-month lows, after U.S.
crude stockpiles rose for atenth consecutive week.By early afternoon in Europe, benchmarkU.S. crude for
January delivery was down 16 cents at $92.14 a barrel inelectronic trading on the New York Mercantile
Exchange, having dropped$1.38 on Wednesday. Floor trading on the Nymex was closed Thursday forthe
Thanksgiving holiday, resulting in low trading volumes.Oilhas declined from about $110 in September due to
reduced tensions in theoil-rich Middle East but above all to muted demand and high supplies.TheEnergy
Department reported that crude supplies increased by 3 millionbarrels, or 0.8 percent, in the week ended
Nov. 22. The nation’s supplyof crude oil is now 391.4 million barrels, which is 4.6 percent aboveyear-ago
levels and "well above the upper limit of the average range forthis time of year," the report
said."Growing U.S. oil productionplayed its part in this, exceeding 8 million barrels per day for
thefirst time since January 1989," said analysts at Commerzbank inFrankfurt in a note to clients.
"U.S. crude oil stocks have reachedtheir highest level for a November since records began in the
early1980s."Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was down 36 cents at $110.46 a barrel on
the ICE Futures exchange in London.In other energy futures trading on Nymex:— Wholesale gasoline fell 0.51
cent to $2.6895 a gallon.— Heating oil lost 0.31 cent to $3.0399 a gallon.— Natural gas retreated 0.4 cents
to $3.891 per 1,000 cubic feet.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material may
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