Oil Prices Droop as OPEC Output Hits 7-Year High

Oil prices closed lower Wednesday, with the benchmark U.S. crude falling 28 cents a barrel, in part because of news that OPEC oil output reached a seven-year high in December.

West Texas Intermediate closed at $17.08 a barrel after falling as low as $17.01 in earlier trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

A Reuters survey of international oil executives, government officials and shipping sources released Wednesday found that OPEC produced 22.76 million barrels a day in December, the highest level since May, 1981.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries began new production limits Jan. 1, and some analysts said that members were probably trying to produce as much oil as possible before the new quotas.