Oil prices climbed by nearly $1 a barrel Wednesday after U.S. government data showed shrinking supplies of crude, gasoline and heating oil.

The arrival of colder weather in the U.S. has also helped to lift energy prices this week. Other factors contributing to the market's upward momentum include a decline in the U.S. dollar, the currency in which crude oil is traded, and the possibility of further production cuts by OPEC, which meets next month in Nigeria.

Light sweet crude for January delivery rose 96 cents to $61.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude at London's ICE Futures exchange rose 40 cents to $61.61 a barrel.

In other Nymex trading, natural gas futures climbed 10 cents to $8.66 per 1,000 cubic feet, heating oil futures gained 1.87 cent to $1.747 per gallon on the Nymex and gasoline futures climbed 4.29 cents to $1.68 a gallon.

The latest report from the U.S. Energy Department showed crude-oil inventories shrinking by 300,000 barrels last week to 340.8 million barrels, or 6 percent more than a year ago. Gasoline inventories declined by 600,000 barrels to 201.1 million barrels, or almost 2 percent below year ago levels. The supply of distillate, which includes heating oil and diesel, fell by 1 million barrels to 132.8 million barrels, or 1 percent above year ago levels.

Oil prices are down more than 20 percent since hitting an a high above $78 a barrel in mid-July. They haven't settled above $62 a barrel since Oct. 1.

OPEC announced in mid-October that it would reduce output by 1.2 million barrels a day, but skepticism persists about the cartel's commitment to carrying out the cuts.