n London, Brent crude for January delivery lost $1.26 at $37.19 a barrel.
Meanwhile, OPEC reported that its daily basket price on December 16 stood at $32.33 bpd compared to $32.61 bpd the day prior.
The EIA data showed crude inventories rose 4.8 million barrels last week to near record highs, while analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a drop of 1.4 million barrels.
Iraq reportedly exported 4.5 million barrels on a single day in November; meanwhile, Saudi Arabia claimed total production capacity of 12.5 million bpd and reportedly pumped a record 10.564 million bpd at the wellhead in June.
"In addition to this, Brent`s January 2016 contract has expired, which is causing spread traders to close off their WTI January 2016 contract positions". Year-to-date, prices for both grades have fallen over 30%. The tactic sparked a feisty battle for market share with US shale producers, flooding markets with a glut of oversupply. Putin opened his annual year-end press conference at the Kremlin by telling reporters that the Russian government had been accustomed to seeing oil prices near $100 a barrel, its level from 18 months ago.
Oil slips on supply glut, Fed decision
18 December 2015
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Brent crude futures settled up more than 1 percent while US crude`s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose almost 3 percent as oil bears once again failed to push prices to below a seven-year trough.
