Mubasher: US crude oil inventories dropped by 1.4 million barrels to 407.4 million barrels in the week ended 3 August, official data by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed.

Meanwhile, economists polled by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) expected a steeper decline of 2.3 million barrels.

Total motor gasoline stockpiles increased by 2.9 million barrels, and distillate fuel rose by 1.2 million barrels, the EIA said.

US crude refinery inputs reached an average 17.6 million barrels per day (bpd) during the week, 118,000 bpd more than the previous week’s average, as refineries operated at 96.6% of their operating capacity last week.

US crude imports reached an average of 7.9 million bpd for the same week, rising by 182,000 bpd from the week before.

Following the release of the EIA data, US Nymex futures dropped 1.95% to $67.82 per barrel (pb), while international Brent crude futures fell 1.54% to $73.50 pb.