The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 3.913 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Dec. 9.

The API reported a decline of 6.426 million barrels in the previous week.

U.S. oil prices climbed on Tuesday.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery increased 2.22 U.S. dollars to settle at 75.39 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The API figure shows how much oil and product is available in storage, giving an overview of U.S. petroleum demand. If the increase in crude inventories is more than expected, it implies weaker demand and is bearish for crude prices.
Source: Xinhua