HOUSTON, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported an increase of 9.043 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Feb. 7.
Analysts expect a hike of 2.800 million barrels for this week.
The API reported a surge of 5.025 million barrels in the previous week.
Oil prices rose on Tuesday.
The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery increased 1.00 U.S. dollar, or 1.38 percent, to settle at 73.32 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude for April delivery gained 1.13 dollars, or 1.49 percent, to settle at 77.0 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. ■
