The EIA reported a build of +4,199 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The build was larger than the average estimate of +2,563 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $78.91 from $79.03 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a deficit of 32.90 MMBbls (-6.8%) to last year, and a deficit of 4.80 MMBbls (-1.1%) to the five-year average.
