HOUSTON, Aug. 6 -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 3.4 million barrels in the U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ending Aug. 2.

In the previous week ending July 26, API reported a decrease of 6.024 million barrels of crude oil inventories, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a decline of 8.5 million barrels for the same period.

Oil prices continued to plunge on Tuesday amid growing fears that escalating U.S.-China trade frictions and geopolitical tensions between Iran and the West would weaken global crude demand.

The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery decreased 1.06 U.S. dollars to settle at 53.63 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery fell 0.87 dollar to close at 58.94 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.