The price of oil eased from record-highs but kept above $67 a barrel today due to fears of disruptions to US supplies.
The lofty prices are creating worries over economic growth as governments, businesses and consumers suffer from high fuel bills.
US light crude was down 36 cents at $67.13 a barrel by 8am Irish time, after hitting $68 at one point yesterday, the highest since US crude futures started trade in 1983. London Brent crude was down 33 cents at $65.94 by 8.01am.
A explosion hit an exporting oil well in Iraq's Kirkuk oilfield in the north, an Iraqi oil official said, adding to existing supply concerns. The well produces 7,000 to 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) and is part of a network that feeds a pipeline to Turkey.
Hurricane Katrina hit Florida's densely populated southeast coast today, leaving two million people in darkness as power lines came down.
The 11th-named storm in the Atlantic hurricane season forced some oil and gas producers to start precautionary evacuations of workers from the Gulf of Mexico, where the United States derives 20 to 25 per cent of domestic crude and natural gas output.
No disruptions to supply have been reported yet, but Shell said it would evacuate 120-non essential personnel from offshore operations in the eastern Gulf of Mexico yesterday and today.