Investing.com - Crude oil prices were narrowly mixed on Tuesday in light trade following a U.S. holiday overnight with signs that U.S. Gulf Coast refineries were coming back online a slight pickup for crude.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude October contract rose 0.19% to $47.38 a barrel. Elsewhere, Brent oil for October delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London fell 0.10% to $52.17 a barrel.
Overnight, U.S. oil futures moved higher on Monday, as refinery activity slowly resumed on the Gulf Coast, although investors were still trying to assess the long term damage of Hurricane Harvey on the U.S. petroleum industry.
Two key fuel pipelines were set to start up on Monday after certain segments in Texas were shut because of storm system Harvey, helping alleviate concerns about rising retail prices and the domestic distribution of gasoline and distillates.
Affected oil output is down significantly from the peak of around 25%, or 428,568 bpd, on August 26 as evacuated workers returned and activity resumed.
Still, many analysts say it could take months before the U.S. petroleum industry fully recovers from Harvey.
About 5.5% of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico's oil production, or 96,000 barrels of daily output, remained shut on Sunday after Harvey made landfall in Texas more than a week ago.