The EIA reported a draw of -4,581 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was smaller than the average estimate of -621 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $79.23 from $79.39 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 51.10 MMBbls (12.3%) to last year, and a surplus of 5.50 MMBbls (1.2%) to the five-year average.
