HOUSTON, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday reported a decrease of 5.521 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Sept. 1.

       Analysts had expected a drop of 1.429 million barrels for the week.

       The API reported a decline of 11.486 million barrels in the previous week.

       Oil prices climbed on Wednesday. The West Texas Intermediate for October delivery added 85 cents, or 0.98 percent, to settle at 87.54 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.