The EIA reported a draw of -4,258 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was smaller than the average estimate of -4,633 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $69.12 from $69.38 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 18.10 MMBbls (4.3%) to last year, and a deficit of 8.00 MMBbls (-1.8%) to the five-year average.
