U.S. Crude Oil Futures See Minor Increase

U.S. crude oil futures gained slightly in post-settlement trading on Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a larger-than-expected decline in domestic crude stocks.

Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $75.89 a barrel after the report, following a settlement down 2.4% at $75.53 a barrel.

According to the API, U.S. crude inventories decreased by about 3.4 million barrels for the week ending August 23, compared to a build of 347,000 barrels reported the previous week. Economists had anticipated a decline of approximately 3 million barrels.

Additionally, gasoline stockpiles fell by around 1.9 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, decreased by 1.4 million barrels.

The official government inventory report is scheduled for release on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).