U.S. crude oil for December delivery closed on Wednesday down 33 cents at 96.37 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, retreating from a record close of 96.70 dollars set on Tuesday.

This happened after the U.S. Energy Department reported better- than-expected crude-oil inventories in the latest week.

U.S. crude inventories for the week ended Nov. 2 fell to 311.9 million barrels, down by 800,000 barrels, compared with the previous week. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for inventories to fall by 1.6 million barrels.

The contract reached a new high of 98.62 dollars earlier in electronic trading.