HOUSTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 6.083 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending April 21.

Analysts had expected a drop of 1.667 million barrels for this week.

The API reported a decline of 2.675 million barrels in the previous week.

Crude oil futures prices dropped over 2 percent on Tuesday as concern over recession and demand returned to the market.

The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery fell 1.69 U.S. dollars, or 2.15 percent, to settle at 77.07 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery sank 1.96 dollars, or 2.37 percent, to settle at 80.77 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.