The EIA reported a build of +5,810 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. In contrast, the market expected a build of 1,305.4 MBbls as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were modestly down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $72.03 from $72.04 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a deficit of 1.50 MMBbls (-0.4%) to last year, and a deficit of 17.70 MMBbls (-4.0%) to the five-year average.
