New York (Platts)--19Feb2008

March RBOB futures on NYMEX jumped 10.52 cents to $2.5990/gal Tuesday
after opening 9.12 cents higher at $2.5850/gal.

The rally was a broad-based move higher in commodities as the US dollar
slipped once again. Since November 2007, the US Dollar Index has been
range-trading, stuck between an all-time low of 74.484 and 77.854. The US
Dollar Index was 28 points lower at 75.98 at 14:09 GMT. A weaker US dollar
reduces costs for net importers of commodities such as China and India.

"While many are citing the unwinding of carry trades, we have argued that
other forces are at work, citing Commitment of Traders data from the futures
market that shows that the net speculative long yen position, for example, is
among the largest over the past decade," foreign exchange strategists at Brown
Brothers Harriman said in a report.

There was a lack of fresh fundamental news to justify the magnitude of
the rally in the energy sector, with the swing to the upside technically
motivated.

A strengthening in the front of the curve was also behind the rally in
crude oil ahead of Wednesday's contract expiration. March/April traded out to
plus 9 cents after settling last Friday at plus 5 cents.

While the front spread does not always reflect supply/demand
considerations ahead of a contract expiration due to liquidity issues, the
backwardation was spread across the nearby months as well.

March crude oil opened $2.30/barrel higher at $97.80/barrel while March
heating oil opened 6.91 cents higher at $2.7160/gal.

--Linda Rafield, linda_rafield@platts.com