The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 2.6 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Jan. 10.

Analysts expect a drop of 3.5 million barrels this week.

The API reported a decline of 4.022 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery lost 1.32 U.S. dollars, or 1.67 percent, to settle at 77.5 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery decreased 1.09 dollars, or 1.35 percent, to settle at 79.92 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Source: Xinhua