The EIA reported a draw of -5,895 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was larger than the average estimate of -131 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $77.99 from $78.24 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a deficit of 6.00 MMBbls (-1.4%) to last year and a deficit of 30.90 MMBbls (-6.9%) to the five-year average.
