The EIA reported a draw of -6,134 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was smaller than the average estimate of -2,873 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were down in the five minutes following the announcement, to $78.47 from $78.59 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 11.40 MMBbls (2.7%) to last year, and a deficit of 8.30 MMBbls (-1.9%) to the five-year average.
