Crude oil prices eased Tuesday

Crude oil prices eased Tuesday after a robust rally a day earlier, but markets remained concerned over possible troubles with oil products as refinery damage by Hurricane Rita is still being assessed.

While Rita inflicted less damage than expected, all crude output in the Gulf of Mexico was still shut down and at least 16 refineries in Texas were closed after the storm blew through over the weekend, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Light sweet crude for November fell 38 cents to US$65.44 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had risen US$1.63 to settle at US$65.82 in New York on Monday after U.S. President George W. Bush said it was unclear how much oil production would be lost from Rita, reports the AP.