Oil prices drop amid rising supplies

New York, Nov 18  Oil prices fell on Tuesday as market expected that the US supplies continued to expand.

The US energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday will release the inventories data of last week. Traders expected the stockpiles to gain for another week.

For the week ended November 6, US crude supplies gained 4.2 million barrels to 487 million barrels, 108.6 million barrels more than one year before, according to EIA's weekly report.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintained its output quota of 30 million barrels per day at June' s meeting. The cartel's output is accounted for around 40 percent of the global crude output.

OPEC's crude production averaged 31.38 million barrels per day, according to OPEC's recent monthly oil market report. OPEC leaders showed no intention to cut the output in face of the price plunge.

The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery moved down $1. 07 to settle at $40.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery decreased 99 cents to close at $43.57 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.