Investing.com -- U.S crude oil futures slipped in post-settlement trading Tuesday as the American Petroleum Institute reported mixed inventory data as domestic weekly crude stocks fell, but gasoline stocks unexpected increased, muddying the demand outlook.
Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $79.76 a barrel following the report after settling 1.4% lower at $80.76 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories fell by about 4.4M barrels for the week ended Jul. 12, compared with a draw of 1.9M barrels reported by the API for the previous week.
The API data showed that gasoline stockpiles increased by 365,000 barrels, while distillate inventories -- the class of fuels that includes diesel and heating oil -- increased by 4.9M barrels.
The official government inventory report is due Wednesday at 10:30 EST (15:30 GMT).