The EIA reported a draw of -7,056 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was larger than the average estimate of -108 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were up in the five minutes following the announcement, to $88.56 from $89.08 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a down of 11.10 MMBbls (-2.5%) to last year, and a deficit of 28.50 MMBbls (-6.3%) to the five-year average.
