The EIA reported a build of +4,633 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The build was larger than the average estimate of +3,461 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were up in the five minutes following the announcement, to $73.01 from $72.84 just before 11:00 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 9.50 MMBbls (-2.1%) to last year, and a deficit of 14.70 MMBbls (-3.3%) to the five-year average.
