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

HOUSTON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 4.022 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Dec. 31.

Analysts expect a drop of 0.250 million barrels this week.

The API reported a decline of 1.442 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery added 69 cents, or 0.94 percent, to settle at 74.25 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery increased 75 cents, or 0.98 percent, to settle at 77.05 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.