Replies to post #589567 on Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[gigem77]

London (Platts)--22Apr2008
Global crude futures surged to fresh records in early European trading Tuesday, while product futures were lagging a bit behind despite a renewed fall in the US dollar and bullish short-term news, sources said. May NYMEX crude, due to expire at the end of trading Tuesday, rallied to $118.05/barrel, while June ICE Brent reached a new record high of $115.03/b. By 0940 GMT, prices had cooled somewhat, with June ICE Brent up 30 centsat $114.73/b and May NYMEX crude up 34 cents at $117.82/b. "The US dollar weakened again...in addition, supply worries in Nigeria and the strike at Grangemouth refinery are still giving the market some support," a London-based broker said. The euro/dollar rate climbed to 1.5975 in earlier trading, just short of the 1.5988 record. "The short-term news is very bullish, market volumes remain low and Ibelieve that the market volatility has kept some people away...The market isl ikely to go like that for a bit longer, however at some point the bubble has to burst and this could be dangerous, especially with people holding unhedged physical positions," the broker added. On Monday, Shell declared force majeure on crude cargoes loading from the Bonny terminal in Nigeria after shutting in 169,000 b/d of output followingrecent pipeline attacks by militants. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed to be behind the sabotage of a flow line serving the Bonny export terminal Friday. In the product futures markets, May ICE gasoil was up $9 at $1066/mt,while in the US, May NYMEX heating oil inched up 0.16 cents to $3.313/gal,while NYMEX RBOB lost 0.69 cents to $2.9722/gal.--Verena Peternell, [e-mail]