HOUSTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a drop of 5.215 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Jan. 5.

       Analysts expected a decline of 1.200 million barrels for this week.

       The API reported a decrease of 7.418 million barrels in the previous week.

       Oil prices climbed on Tuesday.

       The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery gained 1.47 U.S. dollars, or 2.08 percent, to settle at 72.24 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery increased 1.47 dollars, or 1.93 percent, to settle at 77.59 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.