Oil futures finished the year at an eight-session low as traders took profits from a recent price gain ahead of the midweek holiday. Light, sweet crude for February delivery settled down 87 cents, or 0.9%, at $98.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange fell 41 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $110.80 a barrel. U.S. oil futures rose 7.2% in 2013, one of the better performances for any commodity this year. Domestic oil production has surged in recent years as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques have enabled energy producers to access supplies trapped in shale-oil fields. However, the new supplies couldn’t be easily transported to U.S. refineries, and stockpiles built up in storage instead, pressuring prices. U.S. oil futures fell 7.1% in 2012. In 2013, new pipeline routes and increased rail shipping allowed more crude oil to reach […]