HOUSTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 6.024 million barrels in the U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ending July 26.
In the previous week ending July 19, API reported a decrease of 10.961 million barrels of crude oil inventories, the largest draw this year, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a decline of 10.835 million barrels for the same period.
Oil prices extended gains on Tuesday as market participants are betting that the U.S. Federal Reserve would lower interest rates later this week, potentially boosting energy demand.
The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery gained 1.18 U.S. dollars to settle at 58.05 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery rose 1.01 dollars to close at 64.72 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.