 Petrol prices are soaring across the world |
US crude oil slid back to close at $66.27 a barrel on Monday as some US refineries returned to full operation after nearly three weeks of shutdowns. The price of a barrel of US light, sweet crude had hit yet another record on Friday, breaching $67 before closing at $66.80.
Oil prices have risen recently due to a shortage of refining capacity and fears over Iran's nuclear intentions.
Chevron reopened the larger of two shut refining units in California on Friday.
Iran's ambitions
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in September fell to $65.58 per barrel on Monday after closing at $66.50 dollars on Friday, a record high.
There have been more than a dozen breakdowns at US oil installations, the latest of which hit a ConocoPhillips refinery in Illinois.
But some units have started to reopen just as the US summer-holiday driving season draws a bit nearer to its close. The season ends on 5 September.
The US oil price is about 50% higher than at the start of the year, despite the fall in the price of a barrel of US light sweet crude.
Many traders think it will rise towards $70 a barrel before long, citing continuing tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions and its nomination of acting Tehran Mayor and oil industry outsider, Ali Saeedlou, as oil minister.
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