UPDATE 10-Oil drops after OPEC maintains output despite glut

* OPEC maintains near record output
* Prices turn lower, but losses limited
* U.S. energy company shares take a hit

(Adds CFTC data)
NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday after
news that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
was planning to maintain its production near record highs
despite depressed prices, as OPEC continued to guard its share
of an oversupplied market.
The producer group failed to agree on a new production
quota, allowing member countries to continue pumping more than
31 million barrels per day of oil, further swelling a global
glut that has depressed oil prices for over a year.
OPEC's announcement sent ripples through wider markets and
dented shares of U.S. energy drillers already suffering from low
prices, but losses in oil futures were limited as prices hit
support around $40 a barrel. ID:nL1N13T1NH
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 fell 84 cents, or nearly 2
percent, to settle at $43, after rising in early trade. The
benchmark was within cents of August' s 6-1/2-year trough.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 fell $1.11, or nearly 2 percent,
to settle at $39.97.
"There was some short covering before the announcement in
case there was a production cut. When we found out that wasn't
the case, we gave up the gains," said Gene McGillian, analyst at
Tradition Energy in New York. "It shifted the market back to
fears of oversupply."
Saudi Arabia has been under pressure from OPEC's poorer
members to cut output to bolster prices, which have dropped from
over $100 a barrel since June 2014. But Saudi Arabia has been
content to keep production up, which has squeezed profits for
producers in non-OPEC countries, including the United States.
"The heavy pressure on non-OPEC producers, especially U.S.
shale, is going to be kept up," said Paul Horsnell, head of
commodities research at Standard Chartered (L:STAN).
Energy company shares, including those of U.S. oil major
Exxon Mobil Corp (N:XOM) XOM.N and oil service companies Baker Hughes (N:BHI)
Inc BHI.N and Halliburton (N:HAL) Co HAL.N fell after the OPEC news.
The S&P Energy index .SPNY fell on Friday, limiting gains in
the wider stock market. .N
U.S. energy firms this week cut oil rigs for the 13th week
in the last 14, data from Baker Hughes showed.
Goldman Sachs (N:GS) analysts, which expect OPEC production to
remain slightly above current output at 31.8 million barrels per
day in 2016, said robust supply could help keep prices low until
the fourth quarter of next year. ID:nL3N13T4VP
Bullish wagers on U.S. crude oil from hedge funds and other
big speculators fell to the lowest level in more than five
years, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
(CFTC) showed. ID:nL1N13T2FV