Oil prices stalled in their climb toward $100 US a barrel Wednesday after a U.S. government report said oil inventories fell less than expected last week while refinery utilization remained flat.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 33 cents to settle at $96.37 US a barrel.

Before the report's release, prices rose as high as $98.62 US, a new record.

In London, December Brent crude fell 2 cents to settle at $93.24 US a barrel.

The Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that crude supplies fell by 800,000 barrels during the week ended Nov. 2, half the 1.6 million barrel decline analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, on average, had expected.

A larger-than-expected drop would most certainly have propelled oil past $100 US a barrel for the first time.

Refinery utilization remained flat at 86.2 per cent of capacity.

Analysts had expected an increase of 0.8 percentage points.

Gasoline inventories fell by 800,000 barrels last week, countering analyst expectations for an increase of 200,000 barrels.

Inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose by 100,000 barrels last week. Analysts had expected a decline of 500,000 barrels.

Imports of crude oil rose by an average of 275,000 barrels a day last week to 9.7 million barrels a day. Gasoline imports rose by 107,000 barrels last week to an average of 1.1 million barrels a day.