Crude oil damped to the lowest of about $46 on the speculation stockpiles continue rising.

December crude oil fell as much as 39 cents, or 0.8%, to $46.93 per barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Due to the Energy Department, oil supplies in the U.S. rose for the past seven weeks. Prices have dropped 18% from a record high of $55.67 per barrel on October 25.

U.S. crude oil stockpiles added 8% to 291.5 million barrels since September 17 on rising imports, the Energy Department data shows.

``Finally the fundamentals are catching up. The inventory level is still relatively tight going into the winter but not tight enough to justify $55 a barrel,’’ said Anthony Nunan, manager of international petroleum business at Mitsubishi Corp. in Tokyo.