HOUSTON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 10.133 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending June 13.
Analysts expect a drop of 0.600 million barrels for this week.
The API reported a decline of 0.370 million barrels in the previous week.
Oil prices advanced on Tuesday.
The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery increased 3.07 U.S. dollars, or 4.28 percent, to settle at 74.84 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for August delivery gained 3.22 dollars, or 4.4 percent, to settle at 76.45 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
