Oil prices held firm near $59 a barrel on Monday, bolstered by persistent anxiety about storms in the oil-producing US Gulf of Mexico and expectations of rising Chinese oil imports after the yuan's revaluation. US light, sweet crude oil futures eased 1 cent to $58.64 a barrel in Asian trade having hit $58.89 a barrel, its highest level in a week after Friday's 3 percent surge.
London Brent crude slipped 18 cents to $57.40 a barrel.
Prices rose last week as dealers opted to cover short positions ahead of the weekend, fearing a fresh tropical storm might disrupt supplies in the Gulf of Mexico, home to a quarter of US production and nearly all of Mexico's output.
Mexico, which only fully recovered on Friday from Hurricane Emily, briefly shut a key exporting terminal on Sunday as Tropical Storm Gert moved toward its south-eastern coast, but reopened it quickly as the storm made landfall, officials said.
The strongest start to the annual Atlantic hurricane season on record has heightened traders' worries about the impact of storms like last year's Hurricane Ivan, which disrupted output for months after tearing up pipelines and platforms.
The storm season, which lasts through November, has thus far shut in just over 6 million barrels of Gulf of Mexico output, US government figures showed.
News that China's crude oil and fuel imports edged lower in June versus last year, extending a trend that has undermined growth forecasts, was outweighed by hopes for more buying later this year as refining margins improved following the yuan revaluation and retail price rise last week.
"I think the market has changed from last week," said Naohiro Niimura, vice president of derivatives at Mizuho Corporate Bank. "The Chinese changed the renminbi rate and that may prompt Chinese importers to import more product."
China's crude oil imports edged 0.1 percent lower in June versus last year, while first-half imports were up only 3.9 percent, a sharp slowing from last year's 35 percent rise, data showed on Monday. Imports of diesel and fuel oil also fell.
Implied oil demand from the world's No 2 consumer nudged just 0.7 percent higher in June from a year ago, reversing the previous month's contraction but still well below full-year forecasts, Reuters calculations based on the data showed.
Oil traders were also weighing the impact of recent violence on oil prices, as the deadly bomb attacks in Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh resort at the weekend served a reminder of the potential for disruptions from Middle East crude exporters.
But a second set of blasts in London last week raised concerns about the negative impact on economic growth in Europe, something that could undermine oil demand this year.
Hurricanes, the yuan and bombings last week overshadowed concerns about supplies during the fourth quarter, which have been gradually soothed by nine consecutive rises in US inventories of distillates, including heating oil and diesel.
US crude oil stocks also remained well above the seasonal average, falling less than expected last week. Stocks could slide more sharply this week due to a nearly week-long halt to Mexican exports due to Hurricane Emily.
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