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

HOUSTON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday reported an increase of 1.6 million barrels of crude oil in the U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ending Jan. 17.

API reported a build of 1.1 million barrels of crude oil inventories for the previous week ending Jan. 10, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a decrease of 2.5 million barrels.

U.S. oil price fell on rising crude inventories. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery settled 1.64 U.S. dollars lower at 56.74 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.