U.S. oil prices dipped below $40 a barrel several times on Thursday, as heavy stockpiles continued to push crude lower. Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell as low as $39.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest intraday level since August. It settled down 21 cents, or 0.5%, at $40.54 a barrel. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 4 cents, or 0.1%, to $44.18 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. Data provider Genscape Inc. reported Thursday morning that stockpiles have seen strong growth at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for the benchmark U.S. futures contract, according a person who had reviewed the report. They rose 2.1 million barrels in the week ended Tuesday, with 1.8 million of those barrels coming since Friday, according to the data. The addition comes on top of data from Wednesday showing nationwide crude supplies increased by 300,000 barrels last week, according […]