The EIA reported a draw of -7,489 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. In contrast, the market expected a build of +608 MBbls as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $74.06 from $74.34 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 63.20 MMBbls (15.4%) to last year, and a surplus of 24.20 MMBbls (5.4%) to the five-year average.
