Oil Futures Settle With a Modest Loss

Oil futures settled slightly lower on Wednesday. Traders weighed a weekly decline in U.S. crude supplies, a rise in the number of active domestic oil rigs and ongoing chatter among major oil producers ahead of a key meeting next week. January West Texas Intermediate crude fell 7 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $47.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.