The EIA reported a build of +1,117 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The build was smaller than the average estimate of +1,556 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $69.63 from $69.75 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 67.40 MMBbls (16.3%) to last year, and a surplus of 33.30 MMBbls (7.4%) to the five-year average.
