The EIA reported a build of +5,040 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. In contrast, the market expected a draw of -740 MBbls as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $71.32 from $71.61 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 46.30 MMBbls (11.0%) to last year, and a deficit of 0.90 MMBbls (-0.2%) to the five-year average.
