London (Platts)--4May2010/658 am EDT/1058 GMT

Global crude futures were lower in European morning trade Tuesday as the dollar reached its highest level in almost a year, heaping downward pressure on crude benchmarks, while the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the possibility of further volcano disruptions also affected market sentiment, sources said.

At 10:28 GMT, the front-month ICE Brent contract traded at $87.87/barrel, a $1.07 fall, while front-month NYMEX WTI traded at $85.16/b, a $1.03 fall.

The ICE Dollar Index traded at 82.761 points, the highest since May 18, 2009.

"Currency markets seem to have rendered a 'thumbs-down' verdict on the EU rescue package cobbled together for Greece," energy analyst Edward Meir said in an MF Global report.

Developments in the US Gulf Coast continued to dominate market talk Tuesday as participants await news on any potential supply disruptions caused by the oil leak.

"For the time being, energy seems to be taking its cue from developments in the US Gulf, where efforts to stop the leak and ring-fence the spill have yet to materialize," Meir said, adding: "The possibility of supply disruptions, when combined with the strong-looking chart formations, will likely make the case for somewhat higher prices over the short term."

In the immediate future, crude markets will look to the weekly American Petroleum Institute weekly inventory statistics released later Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory data released Wednesday.

The data could have a big impact on crude spreads, with crude stock builds likely to mitigate fears over potential supply restrictions, market sources said.

"For now the spill had not impacted on US crude imports and since indications are that stocks in Cushing will show a further build in the [API and EIA reports] the front contango in WTI is falling to a level wider than before the spill scare," energy analyst Olivier Jakob said in a Petromatrix report.

--George Johnson, george_johnson@platts.com