Mubasher: US crude oil inventories fell by 6.9 million barrels to 416.1 million barrels in the week ended 6 September, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday.

The decline came slightly lower than the figures in a late Tuesday report by industry group American Petroleum Institute (API), showing a drawdown of 7.2 million barrels.

Total motor gasoline inventories went down by 700,000 barrels, while distillate fuel stockpiles went down by 2.7 million barrels.

US crude refinery runs reached an average of 17.5 million barrels per day (bpd) during the week, 114,000 bpd lower than the prior week’s average.

In addition, refineries operated at 95.1% of their operating capacity last week.

US crude imports fell by 180,000 bpd to an average of 6.7 million bpd, compared to the preceding week, the EIA said.

Following the release of the EIA report, US Nymex crude futures rose by 0.23% to $57.53 per barrel (pb), while global benchmark Brent futures climbed by 0.79% to $62.87 pb.