What's Moving the Oil Markets?

• Crude futures rebounded Friday primarily on the back of some dip buying, brokers said. Late Thursday, the energy complex was pulled lower by panic selling on stock markets around the world, negating most of the gains seen earlier after the release of bullish US crude stocks data. At 11:04 GMT, the September ICE Brent was up by 28 cents at $75.46/barrel. September WTI on both NYMEX and ICE changed hands at $75.21/b, up 26 cents. "This is a great opportunity to buy the dip after yesterday's selloff," one London-based broker said.

•Late in the session on Thursday, the energy complex fell significantly amid large falls on stock markets around the world triggered by fears of a credit crunch caused by the weakening US housing market. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the session 311.5 points lower, and at one point had been as much as 400 points down.

•In early Thursday trading, buying continued on the back of a 1.4 million barrel drop in Cushing stocks, according to the Energy Information Administration, sending inventories to their lowest level since the week ending February 9. Beyond this, little fundamental news has been seen and market players expect a typical Friday of short-covering ahead of the weekend.

Updated: July 27, 2007