Oil fell to 6-week low

West Texas Intermediate oil in New York fell to a six-week low as a government report showed that U.S. crude supplies rose to the highest level since July.

Futures dropped as much as 2.7 percent after the Energy Information Administration said that stockpiles climbed 4.14 million barrels last week to 376.4 million. A 2 million barrel gain was projected, according to a Bloomberg survey. Production jumped to the most in more than 20 years. Markets also fell after the Federal Reserve signaled it may consider slowing the pace of asset purchases, according to minutes of the Jan. 29-30 meeting, released yesterday.

Several Fed policy makers said the central bank should be ready to vary the pace of its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, according to the minutes released late yesterday. The debt buying, known as quantitative easing, aim to keep long-term rates low and support economic growth.

Iraq’s crude oil exports rose in January for the first time since October, according to the marketing unit of the OPEC member state’s Oil Ministry.

WTI oil for April delivery dropped  to $92.63 a barrel, the lowest level since Jan. 7 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.