London (Platts)--22Apr2008

Global crude futures surged to fresh records in early European trading
Tuesday, while product futures were lagging a bit behind despite a renewed
fall in the US dollar and bullish short-term news, sources said.

May NYMEX crude, due to expire at the end of trading Tuesday, rallied to
$118.05/barrel, while June ICE Brent reached a new record high of $115.03/b.

By 0940 GMT, prices had cooled somewhat, with June ICE Brent up 30 cents
at $114.73/b and May NYMEX crude up 34 cents at $117.82/b.

"The US dollar weakened again...in addition, supply worries in Nigeria
and the strike at Grangemouth refinery are still giving the market some
support," a London-based broker said.

The euro/dollar rate climbed to 1.5975 in earlier trading, just short of
the 1.5988 record.

"The short-term news is very bullish, market volumes remain low and I
believe that the market volatility has kept some people away...The market is
likely to go like that for a bit longer, however at some point the bubble has
to burst and this could be dangerous, especially with people holding unhedged
physical positions," the broker added.

On Monday, Shell declared force majeure on crude cargoes loading from the
Bonny terminal in Nigeria after shutting in 169,000 b/d of output following
recent pipeline attacks by militants.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed to be behind
the sabotage of a flow line serving the Bonny export terminal Friday.

In the product futures markets, May ICE gasoil was up $9 at $1066/mt,
while in the US, May NYMEX heating oil inched up 0.16 cents to $3.313/gal,
while NYMEX RBOB lost 0.69 cents to $2.9722/gal.
--Verena Peternell, verena_peternell@platts.com