The EIA reported a draw of -5,960 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was larger than the average estimate of -2,400 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $80.62 from $80.81 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 13.70 MMBbls (3.2%) to last year, and a deficit of 6.10 MMBbls (-1.4%) to the five-year average.
