Oil prices edged lower today after a Nigerian strike that threatened to further curtail shipments was suspended at the weekend.
Union leaders said on Saturday that the national oil company had suspended the strike, which had begun two days earlier, after the government agreed to a pay rise and other benefits.
The start of the US summer driving season this week limited losses and oil traders will remain anxious over Nigeria's exports.
London Brent crude for July fell 24 cents to $70.45 a barrel at around midnight, after resisting most of the US market's late-Friday rally.
US crude traded down 1 cent to $65.19 a barrel after surging more than $1 on Friday.
Although electronic trading of both US and European oil contracts runs as normal today, dealers anticipated thin liquidity given the UK bank holiday today and the US Memorial Day, which marks the start of the summer holiday season.
In Nigeria, the head of senior staff union Pengassan Peter Esele said the group had suspended its strike after the government agreed to a 15 per cent pay rise and severance benefits relating to the privatisation of the largest oil refinery.
"I'd expect the effect to be marginal," said David Moore, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "
Currently there are a number of factors that threaten potential disruptions to oil supplies from Nigeria, the strike is only one of them. The law-and-order type issues...are posing a more long-standing risk to oil supplies."
Output from the world's eighth-largest exporter is already down a quarter after an 18-month campaign of militant attacks against Western oil installations.