London (Platts)--25Jun2007

Global crude futures benchmarks retreated Monday from last week's record
highs following the end of the four-day general strike by labor unions in
Nigeria, sources said.
     Moreover, Shell's announcement on Monday morning that it plans to lift
force majeure on its Nigeria Forcados loadings in July, more than a year after
it was shut following an attack by militants, may also put pressure on crude
futures.  
     At 10:44 London time (09:44 GMT), the front-month August ICE Brent
futures contract was down 86 cents to $70.32/barrel, well below the more than
$72/b values seen last week. August NYMEX WTI lost 82 cents to $68.32/b,
bringing Brent's premium above WTI back to $2/b.
     Looking eastwards, August ICE Dubai was down 74 cents to $66.26/b, while
August DME Oman futures lost 52 cents to $66.38/b.
     "It looks to me like petroleum futures prices are lower today following
the end of the Nigerian strike, which is an interesting development after the
bullish sentiment of last week," a London-based broker said.
     Nigerians returned to work Monday two days after the country's two main
trade unions ended a four-day general strike that had paralyzed economic and
commercial activities.
     "Workers are back at their duty posts. We believe the government will not
renege on its promises to labor," a spokesman for the country's Trade Union
Congress told AFP, although he added that union officials will not hesitate to
order another strike if the government fails to implement the agreement
reached late Saturday.
     Meanwhile, July ICE gasoil futures were down $8.25 to $622.50/mt.
     In the US, July NYMEX heating oil and RBOB lost 2.37 cents and 1.57 cents
to $2.0143/gallon and $2.2709/gallon, respectively.
     "You can see on the Commitments of Traders Report the assault on heating
oil and RBOB that was made by the funds in the last two weeks. Maybe they feel
the market is reaching its top levels," the broker added.
     Non-commercials bought another 7,370 lots of RBOB futures and options
last week, leaving them long 40,798 contracts. This is the largest long
position held by non-commercials since the CFTC started to report data for
this contract, and the largest long position since August 2005, when hedge
funds were holding a position in the now de-listed unleaded gasoline market.
--Verena Peternell; verena_peternell@platts.com