HOUSTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 1.401 million barrels in the U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ending July 12.
In the previous week ending July 5, API reported a large decrease of 8.129 million barrels of crude oil inventories, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a decline of 9.5 million barrels for the same period.
Oil prices declined significantly on Tuesday after reports that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran is ready to negotiate on its missiles.
The remarks have helped ease concerns about tensions between Washington and Tehran, which had put the flow of oil in the Middle East at risk, experts noted.
The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery fell 1.96 U.S. dollars to settle at 57.62 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery dropped 2.13 dollars to close at 64.35 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
