•Crude futures lost some ground on Tuesday following Monday's rally, but were still trading at strong levels on support from ICE gasoil, which hit another record high of $1,017/mt in earlier trading.

•"Today's price decline is just a bit of quiet profit-taking... gasoil remains very strong though and should keep the complex supported," a London-based broker said. "It looks like ICE gasoil will continue its bull run until the expiry [on Thursday]... but all still uncertain," the broker added.

•Distillates futures on ICE and NYMEX were the main drivers for Monday's rally, as tight supply/demand balances in Europe and the US for diesel as well as jet fuel and other distillates on the back of refinery issues and maintenance underpinned prices, sources said. "Most of the support to the oil complex is still coming from the middle distillate part," analysts for Petromatrix said in a report.

Updated: April 8, 2008