Forexpros – Crude oil futures extended losses on Wednesday, briefly dropping below USD100-a-barrel after a report showed that U.S. crude supplies rose more-than-expected last week and amid growing uncertainty over the outcome of this week’s crucial European Union summit
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD100.03 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, tumbling 1.24%.
It earlier fell by as much as 1.45% to trade at USD99.69 a barrel, the lowest since December 1.
Crude prices traded at USD100.73 prior to the release of the Energy Information Administration data.
The U.S. EIA said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels in the week ended December 2, confounding expectations for a 1.1 million barrel decline.
U.S. crude supplies rose by 3.9 million barrels in the preceding week.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 336.1 million barrels as of last week, remaining in the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 5.1 million barrels, significantly higher than expectations for a 1.0 million barrel increase, after rising by 0.2 million barrels in the preceding week.
Meanwhile, oil traders continued to monitor developments out of the euro zone amid growing uncertainty ahead of this week’s critical European Union summit.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that an unnamed senior German official expressed pessimism on the prospect of success at the two-day EU summit, scheduled to begin later Thursday.
European leaders are to discuss proposed changes to EU treaties which would allow for greater fiscal integration in the single currency bloc, as well as an enlargement of the bloc’s bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility and the permanent structure that will replace it, the European Stability Mechanism.
Focus on the summit has intensified since Standard & Poor’s placed 15 euro zone nations, including Germany and France, on review for credit downgrades on Monday due to the region’s deepening financial crisis.
Euro zone developments have dominated trading in the oil market for the last several months, amid worries that the sovereign debt crisis could trigger a broader economic slowdown that would curb demand for oil.
The euro zone accounted for nearly 16% of global oil consumption in 2010, according to data from British Petroleum.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery dropped 1.36% to trade at USD109.31 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD9.28 a barrel. 
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