The EIA reported a draw of -934 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories. The draw was smaller than the average estimate of -1,597 as reported by Bloomberg.
Prices were up in the five minutes following the announcement, to $71.01 from $70.89 just before 09:30 AM.
Inventories for the U.S. are now at a deficit of 22.30 MMBbls (-5.0%) to last year, and a deficit of 25.90 MMBbls (-5.8%) to the five-year average.
