Mubasher: US crude oil inventories dropped by 12.6 million barrels to 405.2 million barrels in the week ended 7 July, as shown by the data of the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

This came much higher than an expected drop of 4.8 million barrels according to a poll by S&P Global Platts, while the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a drop of 6.8 million barrels.

Total motor gasoline stockpiles declined by 700,000 barrels, and distillate increased by 100,000 barrels, the EIA said.

US crude refinery inputs reached an average 17.7 million barrels per day (bpd) during the week, 1,000 bpd lower than the previous week’s average, as refineries operated at 96.7% of their operating capacity last week.

US crude imports reached an average of 7.4 million bpd for the same week, down by 1.62 million bpd from the week before.

Earlier in the day, Brent crude plunged 5.54% to $76.86 per barrel (pb), while US crude (Nymex) shed 1.03% to $73.35 pb.

By 2:44 pm GMT, US Nymex futures fell 1.15% to $73.26 pb, while international Brent crude futures dropped 2.31% to $77.04 pb.