•The overnight momentum in global crude futures markets continued throughout European morning trading, with Brent and WTI futures prices hovering just under the all-time highs achieved earlier Wednesday. "Basically, the market was going that direction anyway. The euro/dollar exchange rate got hammered but that is just an excuse," said a London-based broker. "There has been an influx of funds. Commodities are a safe haven for investors. It's not just oil, there have been highs on gold and other metals as well."

•Another potential trigger for price movement in oil futures is the weekly US crude inventory data, due to be released by the Energy Information Administration later Wednesday. Analysts expect US commercial crude stocks to show a 2.5 million barrel build when the EIA and American Petroleum Institute release their weekly data today, a Platts survey indicated Tuesday.

Updated: February 27, 2008