The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday reported an increase of 3.298 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Dec. 30.

The API reported a drop of 1.3 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices extended losses on Wednesday, battered by growing worries over the global economic outlook.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery dropped 4.09 U.S. dollars, or 5.3 percent, to settle at 72.84 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery lost 4.26 dollars, or 5.2 percent, to settle at 77.84 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Both the WTI and Brent settled at their lowest in more than three weeks, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Source: Xinhua