HOUSTON, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported an increase of 1.035 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Sept. 16.
Analysts had expected a hike of 2.321 million barrels for this week.
The API reported a surge of 6.035 million barrels in the previous week.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday under pressure as the U.S. dollar appreciated in anticipation of another big rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The West Texas Intermediate for October delivery decreased 1.28 U.S. dollars, or 1.5 percent, to settle at 84.45 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for November delivery lost 1.38 dollars, or 1.5 percent, to settle at 90.62 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.44 percent to 110.2150 in late trading on Tuesday. Historically, the price of oil is inversely related to the price of the U.S. dollar.
Traders also awaited data on U.S. fuel stockpiles as the U.S. Energy Information Administration is set to release its weekly petroleum status report on Wednesday. ■