The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported an increase of 19.1 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending July 11.

Analysts expect a drop of 2 million barrels for this week.

The API reported a surge of 7.1 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery decreased by 46 cents, or 0.69 percent, to settle at 66.52 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude for September delivery lost 50 cents, or 0.72 percent, to settle at 68.71 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Source: Xinhua