U.S. Crude Oil Futures Rise After Unexpected Inventory Decline

U.S. crude oil futures increased in post-settlement trading on Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported an unexpected decline in domestic weekly crude stocks.

Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $77.28 a barrel following the report, after settling 1.8% lower at $76.96 a barrel.

U.S. crude inventories fell by approximately 3.9 million barrels for the week ending July 19, compared to a draw of 4.4 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week and forecasts predicting a build of 700,000 barrels.

The API data revealed a decrease of 2.8 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles, while distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.5 million barrels.

The official government inventory report is scheduled for release on Wednesday at 10:30 EST (15:30 GMT).