HOUSTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported an increase of 4.247 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending March 7.

Analysts expect a hike of 2.100 million barrels for this week.

The API reported a decline of 1.455 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices inched up on Tuesday.

The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery added 22 cents, or 0.33 percent, to settle at 66.25 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery went up 28 cents, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 69.56 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.