London (Platts)--4Mar2008

Global crude futures moved lower during European morning trading Tuesday,
retreating from Monday's fresh records as the US dollar recovered from its
all-time low.

However, sentiment remained bullish on technical factors as well as
ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine surrounding the latest gas
dispute. Moreover, expectations that OPEC is likely to leave its output
unchanged at its Vienna meeting, could also lend some support to prices.

At 10:55 GMT, front-month ICE Brent futures were down 20 cents to
$100.28/barrel, having hit a fresh record at $102.29/b on Monday. Similarly,
the April contract for NYMEX WTI lost 29 cents to $102.16/b, retreating from
Monday's record of $103.95/b.

"There is not much going on this morning...however, I think the stock
market in the US will head lower this afternoon so I would not be surprised if
crude followed on profit taking," a London-based broker said.

Regarding OPEC, the broker added that he "does not expect any changes in
output."
OPEC's ministerial meeting in Vienna Wednesday is currently heading
towards a decision to leave current production levels unchanged, the group's
President Chakib Khelil said Tuesday. Asked by reporters what he expected to
be the outcome of Wednesday's meeting, Khelil said simply: "No change."

Analysts also stressed that the close trading relationship between the
dollar and oil prices still remains very much relevant for the days ahead.

"We continue to view dollar value against the euro as a particular focus
of attention amongst the broad based global institutional investment
entities," energy consultant Jim Ritterbusch said in a report Monday.

"In addition to providing portfolio diversity and a partial hedge against
further weakness in the dollar, international institutional traders are still
looking to the commodity sector as an alternative to weakening equity
markets," he added.

Product futures were trading lower as well, with the March ICE gasoil
contract down $8.75 to $928.25/mt, while in the US the April NYMEX heating oil
futures contract was 1.63 cents lower at $2.8245/gallon.

April NYMEX RBOB declined by 0.70 cents to $2.6650/gal.
--Verena Peternell, verena_peternell@platts.com