Oil dipped below $60 a barrel today, as dealers took some profits from gains following an extended disruption to Alaskan crude exports and on expectations of a decline in fuel stocks in the United States.
US light crude for January delivery fell 31 cents a barrel to $59.86 earlier, still keeping most of the previous day's 2.3 per cent rally on worries about West Coast crude supplies after Alaskan producers shut in output.
London Brent crude was down 28 cents at $60.11 a barrel. Activity may be muted by the US Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and Friday, when the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) will be closed.
Loading operations at the Valdez terminal remained suspended and production curtailments in force as of midday on Tuesday in Alaska, the Joint Pipeline Office said in a statement.
While the US Coast Guard has said the heavy weather was already abating, regulators said the disruption might last through Thursday, prolonging the closure of some two-thirds of the state's up to 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude production.