The EIA reported a draw of -12,456 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. In contrast, the market expected a build of +932 MBbls as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $74.57 from $74.59 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 35.20 MMBbls (8.4%) to last year, and a deficit of 14.60 MMBbls (-3.1%) to the five-year average.
