London (Platts)--4Nov2008

Global crude futures recovered from prior losses in European morning
trading Tuesday, with ICE Brent bouncing off a 20-month low hit earlier in the
session.

At 1132 GMT, front-month ICE Brent was trading at $60.91/barrel, up 43
cents from Monday's settle. The front-month NYMEX WTI contract was up 70 cents
at $64.61/b.

Earlier in the session, at 0840 GMT, ICE Brent traded at $58.38/b, a
20-month low.

Attention will now turn to the eagerly awaited US election--however
market participants remained skeptical over the potential for the election
results to roil markets to the upside.

"Everyone seems to be watching out for the election, however, whether it
be Barack Obama or John McCain that gets elected, market sentiment will remain
unchanged. We still have further down to go. I imagine $50-$55/b are the next
supporting levels," a London-based broker said.

"We're in November, so people are closing their books for the year.
There's a lack of volume as most traders have made their profits for the year.
The low volumes we're seeing may add to further volatility," he added.

In the equities markets, the FTSE 100 index traded up.

The divergence between the commodities complex and the equities market
was evident in Monday's trading session and for most of Tuesday's morning
session as well, suggesting commodity fundamentals--global oil demand and
manufacturing data--are having a more pronounced affect on the complex than
the directional shifts of the equity markets.

Auto sales for October offered no inspiration yesterday, with Porsche,
General Motors and Ford all recording big falls in sales volumes.

General Motors cited the reduced access to loans and a weaker economy for
the pronounced fall in sales revenues. The company reported that sales of cars
and light trucks tumbled 45% from this time last year; Ford reported a 30%
fall, while Toyota saw sales decline by 23%.

"It will however take some time before there is a great improvement in US
automobile sales. With lower gasoline prices and no credit, one might as well
run the old SUV for a little longer," energy analyst Olivier Jakob said in a
Petromatrix report.

Gasoline took a hit yesterday, with the near collapse of the RBOB crack.

"Gasoline fell into pieces and kept pressure on the oil complex while the
rest of the commodity spectrum was actually well supported...The $/barrel
price of gasoline is fast approaching the price of fuel oil. With the RBOB
crack falling close to minus $7/b, US refinery margins are coming under more
extreme pressure," Jakob added.

The ICE dollar index traded lower Tuesday at 85.788, having previously
traded as high as 86.788.

In the product markets, front-month ICE gasoil traded at $639.75/mt, a
$5.25 fall. Front-month NYMEX heating oil and RBOB traded higher, at
$2.0200/gal and $1.3799/gal, respectively.
--George Johnson, George_Johnson@Platts.com