•Global crude futures moved higher in early European trading on Tuesday, underpinned by news that Turkish troops had crossed over into northern Iraq's Kurdish territory and of refinery strikes in France, sources said.

•Additionally, fresh monetary injections by the European Central Bank should provide support, sources said. The ECB said Tuesday it had allocated more than Eur348 billion ($500 billion) in a two-week refinancing operation aimed at providing banks with ample credit through the end of the year. A similar announcement last week by the US Federal Reserve resulted in a strong price rally in petroleum futures, which led to a more than $4/barrel intra-day gain for ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI futures.

•"Futures prices are underpinned by the Turkish invasion into northern Iraq's Kurdish territory as well as a fresh French refinery strike," a London-based broker said. Turkish troops entered northern Iraq early Tuesday to flush out separatist Kurdish rebels, Jabbar Yawar, spokesman for the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga security force, told AFP. The ground operation comes after Turkish warplanes on Sunday bombed several villages along the Iraq-Turkey border, targeting rebel hideouts.

•Meanwhile, five of Total's refineries in France were hit by a strike on Monday afternoon as workers walked out over wages. Production has been affected although the extent is not yet clear.

Updated: December 18, 2007