• Global crude futures eased lower in European morning trading, retreating from the late-Friday price rally which saw front-month ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI both settling above psychologically significant levels of $76/barrel and $77/b, respectively. The gains came on the back of robust US economic data showing that second-quarter GDP was above expectations at 3.4%, combined with short-covering ahead of the weekend, sources said.

•From a technical point of view the picture is healthy, brokers said Monday, despite prices coming off slightly. "I think that Brent technically looks like a sell today, but WTI looks supportive... so one will be tugging against the other, pushing WTI's premium up further," one London-based broker said.

•Meanwhile, the latest comments by OPEC officials regarding any possible increase in crude production were not viewed as significant. OPEC is not expected to discuss changes in production at its next meeting in September, as increasing production will not affect prices, Iranian oil minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said on state-run television Sunday.

Updated: July 30, 2007