NYMEX crude opens 73 cents lower as geopolitical concerns fade

New York (Platts)--9Apr2007

May crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange opened 73 cents
lower at $63.55/barrel Monday as geopolitical concerns continued to recede and
trading was expected to be light with Europe closed for the Easter Monday
holiday.

"With the Iranian issue no longer on the market's radar screen, focus
should revert to more market-specific topics, like the EIA stock numbers out
last week," Ed Meir, energy analyst at Man Financial, said in a report. "The
resurgence of new length dovetails with our string chart patterns, where we
note that most of the complexes are still technically very constructive,
although at the moment, seeing something of a modest pullback."

Non-commercials, which are primarily comprised of hedge funds, were long
126,964 lots across the petroleum sector, having added 33,945 contracts for
the week ending April 3, according to the most recent data from the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission. In crude, non-commercials added 22,124 contracts,
leaving them long 80,934 lots of crude futures and options combined, the
largest long position since the week ending August 29, 2006.

May heating oil opened 1.09 cents lower at $1.85/gal despite below-normal
temperatures across the Atlantic Coast. May RBOB opened 1.28 cents lower at
$2.1160/gal.

--Linda Rafield, linda_rafield@platts.com