•Crude futures moved lower on Thursday, retreating from fresh all-time highs and above-$100/barrel settlements seen Wednesday ahead of the March NYMEX WTI expiry, after worrying news about European economies prompted a pullback, sources said. In addition, some correcting tendencies ahead of the latest weekly US petroleum stock data are weighing on prices.

•"The market I suspect feels it is slightly overdone and with bearish US stats estimates and weak economy talk in the background we are seeing a light sell off. There may also be some profit taking ahead of the stats release," a London-based broker said.

•Meanwhile, the European Commission on Thursday cut sharply its 2008 growth estimate for the 15 countries sharing the euro to 1.8% from 2.2%, blaming financial market turmoil, a weak US economy and record oil prices, the AFP reported on Thursday. "These economic issues [regarding lower EU growth forecasts] should weigh more on the market and could make a mug of some of these funds eventually," the broker added, referring to talk about the role of hedge funds in the current market.

•Looking at US weekly stats forecasts, analysts expect US crude stocks to show a 3.2 mil barrel build and were also projecting a 1 mil barrel build in gasoline stocks and a 1.7 mil barrel draw in distillates.

Updated: February 21, 2008