SINGAPORE: Oil extended losses in Asian trade on Tuesday as mega-storm Sandy tore through the east coast of the United States and forced the shutdown of refineries, roads and airports.
The massive storm flooded much of New York City and battered several states with heavy winds and torrential rain, leaving at least 13 people dead.
It paralysed several major cities as it brought coastal flooding and hurricane-force winds to the densely-populated eastern seaboard and blizzards to the mountainous interior.
New York's benchmark oil futures contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in December, was down 19 cents to $85.35 a barrel in afternoon Asian trade.
Brent North Sea crude for December fell 41 cents to $109.03.
"The supply of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel into the US east coast ground almost to a halt as Hurricane Sandy forced the closure of two-thirds of the region's refineries, its biggest pipeline, and most major ports," Phillip Futures said in a market commentary.
The United States is the world's biggest oil-consuming nation and any dent in demand there has a bearing on prices.
Seawater coursed between the skyscrapers of New York's financial district in lower Manhattan, flooding subways and road tunnels and shorting out the power grid, plunging more than six million households into darkness.
Further south, vast swathes of the eastern seaboard found themselves underwater. On inland mountains Sandy's rain-heavy clouds had merged with a cold-weather front to dump tonnes of snow on higher ground.
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