Crude oil prices climbed above US$55 a barrel on Tuesday after the U.S. government's announcement on crude stockpile.

The Department of Energy said Tuesday it plans to increase the capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5 billion barrels from 691 million barrels.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 2.48 dollars or 4.7 percent, to 55.04 dollars a barrel.

London Brent crude was up 2.40 dollars to 55.10 dollars a barrel.