Oil Prices Decline as Dollar Advances

NEW YORK, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices fell on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar went up against major currencies.

With a lack of major economic data, investors are eyeing a bunch of Federal Reserve officials' comments this week on the prospect of the Fed's stimulus program.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee this year, expressed optimism over the U.S. economy, raising concerns that he would support tapering quantitative easing in advance.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to give his testimony before Congress on the outlook for the U.S. economy on Wednesday, which may give indications of the Fed's exit strategy from its massive bond purchases.

Traders anticipated that the U.S. stockpiles probably decreased 800,000 barrels to 394 million last week, before an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery lost 55 cents, or 0.57 percent, to settle at 96.16 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent for July delivery went down 89 cents, or 0.85 percent, to close at 103.91 dollars a barrel.