The EIA reported a draw of -17,049 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was larger than the average estimate of -777 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $80.37 from $81.12 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 13.90 MMBbls (3.3%) to last year, and a deficit of 6.80 MMBbls (-1.5%) to the five-year average.
