The EIA reported a draw of -5,503 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was larger than the average estimate of -3,406 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $72.00 from $72.02 just before 10:00 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 10.70 MMBbls (2.5%) to last year, and a deficit of 9.00 MMBbls (-2.0%) to the five-year average.
