The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 2.408 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending June 23.

Analysts had expected a drop of 1.467 million barrels for the week.

The API reported a decline of 1.246 million barrels in the previous week.

Crude oil futures prices suffered substantial losses on Tuesday as hawkish comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde added concerns over oil demand outlook.

The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery shed 1.67 U.S. dollars, or 2.41 percent, to settle at 67.70 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for August delivery lost 1.92 dollars, or 2.59 percent, to settle at 72.26 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Source: Xinhua