U.S. crude oil inventories down last week: API

HOUSTON, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 3.104 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending May 10.

Analysts had expected a decline of 1.350 million barrels for the week.

The API reported a hike of 0.509 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday. The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery decreased by 1.10 U.S. dollars, or 1.39 percent, to settle at 78.02 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for July delivery lost 98 cents, or 1.18 percent, to settle at 82.38 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.