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NEW YORK — Oil prices extended losses on Wednesday as fuel demand in the United States continued to crumble under the weight of a financial crisis, prompting OPEC to sharpen the ax for another round of production cuts.

US crude fell 17 cents to settle at $46.79 a barrel after hitting a 3.5-year low of $46.26 earlier in the session. Brent crude finished unchanged at $45.44.

The small decline comes in the midst of a global economic crisis that has sliced more than $100 off the cost of a barrel since July by tamping down consumption.

A report from the US Energy Information Administration released Wednesday showed US oil product demand running 6.2 percent below year-ago levels while crude oil and refined fuel inventories slipped unexpectedly across the board.

"Crude imports dropped 1.5 million barrels to 9.5 million barrels [per day] from the prior week's very high level, and refinery crude runs fell 1.9 percent, as it looks like refiners are moving to rationalize output to the lower demand levels," said Tim Evans, an analyst for Citi Futures Perspective.

Valero Energy Corp., the nation's biggest oil refiner, said it was keeping its gasoline-production units at around 85 percent of capacity due to soft US fuel demand.

The downturn in the energy market has prompted oil producer group OPEC to consider another round of cuts to oil output when it next meets Dec. 17 in Algeria.

"For sure we will cut in Oran [in Algeria]," Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told reporters on the sidelines of a petrochemical conference in Dubai. "I don't know by how much. We will discuss it there."

OPEC's secretary-general said in remarks published on Wednesday that oil producers needed at least $70 to $80 a barrel or more for crude to meet their development needs.

OPEC oil supply has fallen for three months after members began to implement a deal to cut output, a Reuters survey showed on Tuesday.

But the survey suggested OPEC countries met only 66 percent of a pledge to lower output by 1.5 million barrels per day in November, less than analysts had expected.

• Cost pressures drive oil profits down
• OPEC to cut oil supply at Dec meeting
• Shares close 1.4% higher
• Asian stocks, oil prices rebound
• Oil rises more than $1, above $48
• Asian shares to climb as Wall St gains
• Wall St rebounds
• Oil drops 4.7%, down $100 from record
• Stocks fall 4.6% on US recession report

• China wants new global monetary system
• Solons caution gov’t on privatization