The EIA reported a draw of -4,633 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was larger than the average estimate of -774 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $70.54 from $70.61 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 30.40 MMBbls (7.3%) to last year, and a deficit of 1.50 MMBbls (-0.3%) to the five-year average.
