The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported an increase of 0.674 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Jan. 26.

Analysts expected a rise of 2.133 million barrels for this week.

API reported a decline of 2.5 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday.

The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery gained 53 cents, or 0.73 percent, to settle at 73.31 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery added 60 cents, or 0.77 percent, to settle at 78.59 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Source: Xinhua