HOUSTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported an increase of 2.700 million barrels of crude oil in the U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ending Dec. 18.
API reported an increase of 1.973 million barrels of crude oil inventories for the previous week ending Dec. 11 while the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a fall of 3.1 million barrels.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday as traders grew concerned over weaker demand for fuel after a new strain of COVID-19 detected in Britain prompted fresh mobility restrictions.
The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery lost 95 cents to settle at 47.02 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery decreased 83 cents to close at 50.08 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
