Crude oil futures dropped Monday as fears over refinery breakdowns eased, but prices remained above 66 dollars a barrel.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude oil futures for September delivery fell 59 cents to end at 66.27 dollars per barrel. Meanwhile, on London's International Petroleum Exchange, the September Brent crude-oil futures contract shed 87 cents to settle at 65.58 dollars a barrel.

On Monday, fears over refinery breakdowns eased as some US refineries recovered from a terrible disruptions last week. The breakdowns last week included several units at ConocoPhillips' Wood River, Illinois, refinery. ConocoPhillips was the largest US oil refining company.

Analysts said that surging oil prices last week were prompted more by concerns about refinery breakdowns in the United State rather than by long-term supply and demand outlooks.

However, oil traders were monitoring the situation in Iran with increasing concern. Iran might cut oil production if the US and the United Nations imposed sanctions against its nuclear processing. Iran was the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries with oil output of 4 million barrels a day.

Source: Xinhua