•Crude futures recovered in early European Thursday trading from the selling spree seen during Wednesday, following the release of a bullish set of US inventory data by the EIA on Wednesday. At 10:43 London time (09:43 GMT), the June ICE Brent futures contract gained 64 cents to $66.68/b, after losing more than $1.50/b in intra-day trading on Wednesday. The May NYMEX WTI contract, due to expire on Thursday, was down 5 cents to $63.08/b.

•US stock data published Wednesday by the EIA showed draws for all main stocks, with crude down 1 million barrels, while gasoline inventories declined by 2.7 million barrels, the 10th consecutive draw, fueling fears of shortages ahead of the main summer demand season.

•"Although the larger than expected gasoline stock draw of 2.7 million barrels appeared price supportive, it was easily overshadowed by the larger than expected increase in refinery activity of 2% capacity. However, by the end of the day the gasoline market had clearly indicated that it still had enough fight left for a sizable intra-day rally," energy consultant Jim Ritterbusch said in a report.

Updated: April 19, 2007