US commercial crude inventories excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 4.5 million barrels to 424.5 million barrels in the week ended August 28, the Energy Information Administration said, a much steeper decline than the 300,000-barrel draw forecast in a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts. Stocks stood about 1% above the five-year average for this time of year as refineries operated near full capacity. The reading follows a 4.45 million-barrel commercial crude draw in the week ending August 21 and earlier American Petroleum Institute figures that had pointed to a 2.6 million-barrel decline for the August 28 week. Prior EIA details for the August 21 week showed the SPR down another 3.1 million barrels near multi-decade lows, higher refinery crude runs, softer gasoline stocks and a modest build at Cushing, underscoring a backdrop of elevated throughput, strong exports and late-summer demand.