Oil prices fell slightly today as the market awaited the latest weekly snapshot of energy inventories in the US.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October fell 42 cents to $115.38 a barrel in London trade. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October, dropped 21 cents to $89.13 a barrel.
Prices had risen sharply yesterday, closing up over $3 in New York, as stock markets rebounded and in the aftermath of a tropical storm which was still disrupting oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.
About 37% of crude production in the Gulf of Mexico - a key oil-producing region for the US - was closed yesterday because of Tropical Storm Lee, the US Department of the Interior said.
US inventory data to be published later today was expected to reveal a drop in crude stockpiles owing to the shutdown, analysts said.
