What's Moving the Oil Markets?

•Global crude futures stabilized on Friday, following a volatile trading session on Thursday, triggered by the latest US inventory data published by the US Energy Information Administration. With commercial crude stocks dropping by an unexpected 2 million barrels, global crude futures shot up as a reaction, followed by an even quicker decline. At the end of Thursday trading, however, ICE Brent as well as NYMEX WTI managed to regain some territory.

•Shell has shut another 77,000 b/d of crude production after it discovered a leak in a major pipeline, a company spokesman said Thursday. The leak on the Nembe Pipeline in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta was discovered last week and Shell was trying to gain access to repair the damage, the spokesman said.

Updated: June 1, 2007