• Global crude futures were weaker Wednesday, retracing gains made on Tuesday after Shell declared force majeure of Nigerian Bonny Light crude exports, with predictions of further builds in US inventories in the background, market sources said. At 1028 GMT, the June ICE Brent futures contract traded at $67.86/barrel, down 25 cents from Tuesday's close. The June WTI contract on NYMEX and ICE dropped 36 cents to $62.81/b.

•July ICE Brent had risen earlier in the day but fell sharply on reports that protesters had left the Shell oil pipeline in Nigeria, saying production could continue. The company was not immediately available Wednesday to confirm whether or not the protest had ended.

•In the background, weekly US oil stock data is due to be released later Wednesday by the Energy Information Agency. Analysts surveyed by Platts projected a build of 200,000 barrels of crude, 900,000 barrels of gasoline and 1.4 million barrels of middle distillates. Analysts also projected a 0.7% rise in refinery utilization to 89.7%. This would indicate a second week of builds in US gasoline stocks.

Updated: 05/16/07