•Crude futures were up by over $1/barrel Wednesday as market players eyed further weakness in the US dollar and the strong settlement on Tuesday as incentives to add long positions, sources said.

•"The dollar changes are still moving crude prices," a trader said. "We also saw a strong settle last night and it seems to be a bit of a continuation on that." The US dollar index fell to around a one week low and was pegged at 71.82, off by over 0.5% from Tuesday. The Euro was rallying against the greenback to over $1.57, nearing the all time highs.

•In the last thirty minutes prior to the settlement of ICE Brent and NYMEX crude prices surged higher as the US dollar fell. This guaranteed settlement values above the $100/b level which has become a support level.

•The US EIA and API will release US inventory data at 1430 GMT and market players expect the gasoline number to be the one to watch. According to analysts gasoline stocks are expecting a 1.6 million barrel drop, while crude stocks should build by 1.5-million barrels. Distillate stocks are expected to fall 1.8 million barrels as winter heat demand continues and planting season starts to pull on diesel stocks.

Updated: March 26, 2008