The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 4.346 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending March 31.
Analysts had expected a drop of 1.8 million barrels for the week. The API reported a decline of 6.076 million barrels in the previous week.
Oil prices eked out modest gains on Tuesday as traders continued to assess major producers’ output cut decision over the weekend.
The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery rose 29 cents, or 0.36 percent, to settle at 80.71 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery increased 1 cent, or 0.01 percent, to close at 84.94 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
