The EIA reported a draw of -1,630 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was larger than the average estimate of -214 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were modestly up in the five minutes following the announcement, to $71.24 from $71.11 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a deficit of 1.20 MMBbls (-0.3%) to last year, and a deficit of 18.00 MMBbls (-4.1%) to the five-year average.
