London (Platts)--2Aug2007

Global crude futures weakened significantly Thursday, continuing the
massive sell-off on late Wednesday after the release of US crude and product
stock data by the Energy Information Administration, analysts said.

     At 10:36 GMT, the September ICE Brent traded at $74.55/barrel, down 79
cents. The NYMEX WTI and ICE WTI futures contracts for the same month traded
76 cents lower at $75.77/b.

     Immediately after the release of the US stock data, which showed a larger
than expected draw in US crude stocks of 6.5 million barrels, the September
NYMEX WTI contract rallied to a new all-time high of $78.77/b, breaching the
previous all-time high set in July 2006.

     But product stock builds, amid the highest level of refinery inputs in
almost two years, weighed heavily and took control of the complex, dragging
crude futures down around $2/b later in the day. 

     The EIA reported a 600,000 barrel build in gasoline stocks and a 2.8
million barrel increase in distillate stocks on the back of a sharp rise in
crude runs. US crude oil inputs climbed above 16 million b/d for the first
time since September 8, 2006, and at 16.21 million b/d were the highest since
late August 2005.

     In addition, there was a bout of profit-taking once the new all-time high
had been reached, according to analysts.

     "At last the tension of chasing the all-time high has been released and
few will have been surprised that it brought in profit takers despite a
surprisingly high crude draw in the weekly US stock figures," a PVM report
said. 

     "Technicals were in charge yesterday. We should see more composure today
as the elements behind the figures are more carefully examined."

     Middle East crude contracts remained quiet. The ICE Dubai contract for
October has not traded throughout the current trading session, after settling
on Wednesday at $69.72/b. The October DME Oman contract was at $69.85/b, down
45 cents, with 256 lots currently traded.

     ICE gasoil futures plummeted Thursday, reacting to the massive sell-off
after the release of the US crude and product stock data. 

     The August contract opened at $649.00/mt, down by $6.50/mt from the
close. After a brief pause prices then started to tumble, hitting a low of
$639.50/mt before climbing again and remaining steady above the $640.00/mt
level. The contract was pegged at $641.50/mt, down $14.00/mt.

     On the other side of the Atlantic, in early electronic trading on the
Globex system US heating oil fell further after the 3 cent loss seen
Wednesday. At 10:38 GMT, the contract for September traded at $2.0527/gallon,
down 1.67 cents.

     NYMEX RBOB futures for September, which at one point fell by over 10
cents/gal on Wednesday, found support just above the $2/gal level at
$2.0050/gal, down 2.46 cents. If the contract dips below $2/gal, it will be at
its lowest level since mid-April of this year.

--Jean-Luc Amos, jean-luc_amos@platts.com