What's Moving the Oil Markets?

•Global crude futures recovered from earlier losses that saw ICE Brent trade at a 45-month low Tuesday. At 0753 GMT front-month ICE Brent traded at an intra-day low of $46.02/barrel, its lowest level since February 18, 2005. NYMEX WTI also recorded fresh lows, trading at $47.36/b, its lowest level since May 2005.

•"There is an element of profit taking, but I'm wondering if anyone has put out estimates for the [US EIA oil]stats tomorrow already," a London-based broker said.

•OPEC's failure to reach a production decision over the weekend remains a contentious issue. "The cartel has dug an even deeper hole for itself (post-Cairo), and this will likely mean cutting output by more than it originally intended to when it next meets in two weeks time," energy analyst Edward Meir said in a report.

Updated: December 2, 2008