Oil Falls to Four-Week Low

Crude oil dipped below $90 a barrel Wednesday for the first time in four weeks, before rebounding to close at $90.84, Bloomberg reported.

The downturn in the price on the New York Mercantile Exchange followed an Energy Department report that showed crude supplies rose more than expected, Bloomberg said.

Oil futures fell more than $2 to $89.17 a barrel on the Nymex, just two weeks after hitting $100 in intraday trading for the first time, Bloomberg said.

Oil had closed at $91.90 Tuesday on the Nymex, the lowest closing price since $91.06 on Dec. 20. Futures set a closing-price record $99.62 on Jan. 2, and an intraday record of $100.09 a barrel on Jan. 3.

The Department  of Energy reported Wednesday that crude inventories rose 4.3 million barrels last week, the first upturn in nine weeks. It was well above the 1.2 million-barrel increase predicted by analysts, Bloomberg said.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 1.2 million barrels, while gasoline inventories gained 2.2 million barrels last week, DOE said in its weekly report.

Meanwhile, an OPEC official signaled the group may boost its output levels, one day after President Bush called for increased production, Bloomberg said.

OPEC’s secretary general, Abdalla el-Badri, told reporters in Cyprus Wednesday that the group “will not hesitate to increase production” if the market warrants it, Bloomberg reported. Cartel ministers will meet in Vienna, Austria, on Feb. 1.

President Bush had called for an increase in production while he was visiting Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.