Oil settles lower on gasoline supply

NEW YORK -- Oil prices settled lower Wednesday after swelling gasoline supplies offset a tumble in crude oil stockpiles to their lowest level in more than three years. Crude inventories fell 2.3 percent, to 282.8 million barrels during the week ended Jan. 4, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. But gasoline inventories rose a strong 2.6 percent, to 213.1 million barrels. Light, sweet crude for February delivery lost 66 cents to settle at $95.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.