(Updated to include additional details.)
US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 7.2 million barrels to 404.5 mmbbls in the week ended July 24, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report on Wednesday.
Crude inventories were about 7% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.
The decrease was above Macquarie's estimate of a 2.5-mmbbl draw for the week ended July 24.
US Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventories dropped to 307.7 mmbbls in the week ended July 24, down from 311.4 mmbbls a week earlier, marking a weekly decline of 3.8 mmbbls, EIA data showed.
Crude oil input to refineries increased by 271,000 barrels per day from the previous week to average about 17.3 million b/d in the week ended July 24. Crude oil production dropped by 2,000 b/d to 13.8 million b/d. Commercial crude imports decreased by 124,000 b/d to average about 5.7 million b/d.
Total motor gasoline stockpiles remained unchanged from the previous week to 211.3 mmbbls, while distillate stocks increased slightly by 1.1 mmbbls to 110.6 mmbbls, the agency said.