New York (Platts)--3Jun2008

July crude futures on NYMEX fell back below $126/barrel early Tuesday,
hitting an intra-day low of $125.65/b, down $2.11 as the US dollar firmed on
remarks from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on the greenback.

"Bernanke said that the Fed is 'attentive' to the implications of the
dollar's slide, noting that its drop has spurred an 'unwelcome rise' in import
costs," Win Thin, currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, said in a
report.

"[T]he Fed clearly recognizes that loose monetary policy has been one of
the factors hurting the dollar this past year, and so his comments support the
market view that it will take a lot to get the Fed to ease again."

The Dollar Index on ICE was up 50.5 points at 73.434, just shy of the
intra-day high of 73.501 and remaining in a well-established 10-week range.

The foreign exchange markets may have markedly reacted to Bernanke's
comments regarding the US dollar, but the Fed does not set dollar policy, the
US Treasury Department does.

But a stronger US currency put commodity bulls on the defensive with
losses sustained in petroleum futures and base and precious metals.

"Bernanke's comments about the dollar were really about the inflation
impact of a weaker currency," Marc Chandler, chief foreign exchange strategist
at Brown Brothers said.

"This also seems broadly consistent with the G7 stance about the dollar
and the risks that the volatility in the foreign exchange market could be
contributing to the destabilizing appreciation of commodity prices."

--Linda Rafield, linda_rafield@platts.com