Related: A sigh of relief as Rita shows mercy

Return of Texans prepared after Rita deluge

Stacks rise from the Deer Park refinery in Texas.

    BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Crude oil and gasoline fell in extraordinary trading in New York Sunday after refineries near Houston had seen a less-than-expected damage from Hurricane Rita.

    New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, was down $1.13 at $63.06 per barrel at 2208 GMT on the New York Mercantile Exchange after shedding more than $1.20 earlier in the day.

    Regular gasoline was trading down 10.4 cents to $1.98 a gallon, while heating oil had dipped 5.5 cents to $1.89 a gallon.

    "What you're seeing is the perception in the market that supply is going to come back much faster than anticipated," said Andrew Lipow, president of the Houston-based oil consultancy Lipow Oil Associates.

    The Texas refinery town of Port Arthur appeared to be hard hit, with water waist-deep in some places. But gulf oil platforms and refineries dotting the coasts of Texas and neighboring Louisiana appeared to have survived Hurricane Rita without major damage.

    Nonetheless, oil experts warned that Rita's fierce winds packed enough punch to cripple a handful of refineries for a few weeks -- and that means retail gasoline prices could rise over the next month in some parts of the United States, Los Angeles Times reported.

    In the hardest-hit areas of Lake Charles, Louisiana and Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, power was still out on Sunday. Plants owned by ConocoPhillips and Citgo Petroleum Corp. sustained wind damage and the timing of their return to service was unclear. Enditem

    (Agencies)