HOUSTON, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a drop of 1.519 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending March 15.

       Analysts expected a hike of 0.077 million barrels for this week.

       The API reported a decline of 5.521 million barrels in the previous week.

       Oil prices advanced on Tuesday.

       The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery increased 75 cents, or 0.91 percent, to settle at 83.47 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery went up 49 cents, or 0.56 percent, to settle at 87.38 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.