Oil down slightly as fiscal-cliff talks continue

U.S. benchmark crude fell 7 cents to finish at $90.80 a barrel.

Hopes that a budget compromise might be reached were still alive as congressional leaders met with President Barack Obama at the White House. The Republican-dominated House is set to meet Sunday and stay in session until Jan. 2, the day before the new Congress is sworn in. Without a budget deal, automatic tax hikes and government spending cuts could send the economy into recession, economists say.

Traders are also weighing rising energy supplies.

Phil Flynn, of the Price Futures Group, said that a government report Friday showed U.S. oil production hit its highest point since March of 1993, at nearly 7 million barrels per day.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said that U.S. crude supplies fell by 600,000 barrels last week but were still 13 percent above year-ago levels. Analysts expected a drop of 2 million barrels, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Supplies at the crude delivery hub in Cushing, Okla., rose to an all-time high of 49.2 million barrels, more than 20 million barrels above year-ago levels.