U.S. crude oil inventories soar as oil prices climb amid tensions over Ukraine

HOUSTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday reported a rapid surge of 5.983 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Feb. 18.

Analysts expected an increase of about 0.767 million barrels for this week.

The API reported a drop of 1.076 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices inched higher on Wednesday as uncertainty remains over the Ukraine crisis.

The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery added 19 cents to settle at 92.10 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery closed flat at 96.84 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions over Ukraine escalated.

"Most of the panic about the further escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict appears to have passed (for the time being)," Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said Wednesday in a note.

However, analysts warned the calmness on the market may be temporary as uncertainty remains high.

"In our opinion, there is a risk that Russia will retaliate to the sanctions by reducing deliveries of its own accord," said Fritsch.