There was hardly any OI in the Decembers except for 213 contracts for the December 4 Call which was going to be wiped out no matter what.
OpEx games are pretty unlikely here as the value of the OI outstanding just isn't that big. Something likely got triggered in the algorithm at a HFT. I'm not an expert on oil, but I do know HFTs and hedge funds. Spent 7 years dealing with them in NYC.