Global crude futures were down slightly again in early European trading,
with fears about tensions between Turkey and Iraq pushed aside for now and the
focus shifted to the weekly US inventory data due out later today, brokers
said.

At 10:20 GMT, December WTI on the New York Mercantile Exchange was
trading at $85.08/barrel, down 19 cents from the previous settle. The December
Brent contract on the IntercontinentalExchange, meanwhile, was down 1 cent to
$82.84/b.

"Today is statistics day although the focus might be as much on the
release of the US existing home sales report as on the DOE report. There was a
very large overall stock draw in the corresponding week of last year which is
unlikely to be repeated this year; hence the stock deficits to last year
should continue to narrow," Petromatrix analysts said in a report Wednesday.

Analysts surveyed by Platts expect US oil inventory data to show a 1.8
million barrel build in commercial crude stocks, while gasoline is seen rising
by 700,000 barrels.

Distillate stocks are expected to remain unchanged with the Atlantic
Coast experiencing unusually warm temperatures. Refinery utilization is
expected to edge down 0.25 percentage points to 87.05%, based on EIA data.

"Wednesday's DOE report is the next fundamental test for the crude oil
market," said analyst Tim Evans in a Citi Futures Perspective report Tuesday.

"Overall, we see the products as having the more definite bearish bias in
terms of overall market direction. A minor build or draw in crude oil is of
less consequence in our view."

Concerns also remain over the health of the US economy and the impact any
slowdown could have on demand for oil.

Meanwhile, in the refined product markets, NYMEX RBOB was down 39 points
at $2.1050/gallon. Middle distillates gained, with heating oil up 60 points to
$2.3058/gal and ICE gasoil futures up $2.75 to $721.75/mt.

--Deepa Vijiyasingam, deepa_vijiyasingam@platts.com