Global crude futures reached news highs Tuesday for the third consecutive
day as attention focused on political developments in Turkey and market
participants adjusted positions in response, sources said.

At 09:27 GMT, the November NYMEX WTI futures contract was at
$87.42/barrel, up $1.29/b from the previous close and the first time the
contract has breached the $87/b level. At 08:46 GMT NYMEX WTI went as high as
$87.97/b.

The November ICE Brent contract also set a new high trading at $83.73/b,
up 98 cents/b from the overnight close.

The latest surge in crude futures was in reaction to news late Monday
that the Turkish government had formally asked the parliament for permission
to launch attacks into northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK).

Approval for such a motion is expected to pass on Wednesday. This would
enable the Turkish government to decide over the next year how to proceed,
according to news agencies.

"This move [in crude] is on news from Turkey, as well as short covering,"
said a London-based broker. "Some players expected the market to come off
after the recent highs, so have to adjust today."

"WTI is also much stronger than Brent, primarily because that is where
the speculative money is," the broker said.

The WTI-Brent spread for November was $3.58/b and December was also over
$3/b.

In NYMEX products futures, November gasoline was at $2.1906/gal, up 3.31
cents/gal and November heating oil contract was at $2.3258/gal up 1.86
cents/gal. on ICE, the November gasoil contract was at $722/mt, setting a new
all-time high.

--Paul Hailey, paul_hailey@platts.com