The EIA reported a draw of -445 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. In contrast, the market expected a build of +748 MBbls as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $102.45 from $102.75 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a deficit of 12.80 MMBbls (-2.9%) to last year, and a deficit of 38.20 MMBbls (-8.2%) to the five-year average.
