The EIA reported a draw of -4,156 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was larger than the average estimate of -1,150 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $78.64 from $78.76 just before 10:00 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a deficit of 4.30 MMBbls (-0.9%) to last year, and a deficit of 18.90 MMBbls (-4.0%) to the five-year average.
