Oil fell below $76 a barrel today as investors took profits and a recovery in US refinery operations helped dispel worries of a petrol supply crunch this summer.
London Brent crude for September delivery, the new front-month contract, was down 64 cents to $75.65 a barrel earlier.
North Sea output problems and a wave of fund buying had lifted the August contract to $78.40 - just shy of its record $78.65.
It finished trade 24 cents lower yesterday.
US crude eased 26 cents to $73.89 a barrel, after gaining 22 cents yesterday. It had touched a new 11-month high of $74.50 despite steep losses in petrol and heating oil.
A series of refinery outages in the United States has kept markets on edge during the peak driving season in the world's top consumer, but many plants are restarting.
US petroleum stocks are expected to have risen by 900,000 barrels last week while distillate inventories probably increased by 1.1 million barrels, a preliminary poll found.
But some analysts said an increase in fuel supplies may do little to soften prices. A near-three week rally has lifted Brent by more than $7 a barrel.
Speculative investors aided the run-up by pushing cash into the commodity markets amid concerns world demand growth would continue to stretch production capacity.
"Inventories are still quite low if you look at oil demand, which has been growing quickly," said Tony Nunan at Tokyo-based Mitsubishi.
Goldman Sachs said yesterday oil could reach $90 a barrel this autumn and $95 by the end of this year if Opec did not relent on its export curbs and pump more crude.