•Crude futures drifted slightly lower Tuesday, resuming the main bearish trend of 2008 and negating some of the rally seen Monday, sources said. "I think the mood is bearish," a London-based broker said. "so after the geopolitical news of Iran and Nigeria blew over, the market confirmed it's bearish sentiment."

•Prices surged higher Monday in a broad-based rally across the commodity sector that was initiated by a fall in the US dollar, and more specifically to oil, prices surged due to supply problems continuing in Nigeria. News that Shell declared force majeure on Forcados loadings that will affect both January and February programs helped boost prices.

•However, since the start of 2008 when crude futures hit all-time highs prices have slipped around $6/barrel as fears of a US economic slowdown, growing US product stocks and a generally stronger US dollar forced market players to lighten their long positions.

Updated: January 15, 2008