The EIA reported a draw of -3,831 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. In contrast, the market expected a build of +450 MBbls as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $70.34 from $70.47 just before 10:00 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 44.90 MMBbls (10.7%) to last year, and a deficit of 1.40 MMBbls (-0.3%) to the five-year average.
