Oil prices fell sharply for the third day in a row Tuesday as US may tap an emergency supply of heating oil in the Northeast.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, fell 1.57 dollars to close at 63.90 dollars a barrel. Gasoline futures fell 4.65 cents to close at 2.0157 dollars a gallon, while heating oil futures fell 3.12 cents to 2.0497 dollars per gallon. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery sank 1.58 dollars to 61.22 dollars a barrel.

The release of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the prospect of a release from the emergency heating oil reserve have weighed on the market. US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Monday the government was "prepared to do what is necessary with strategic reserves," in response to a question about the Northeast emergency heating oil supply.

US government figures released Tuesday showed 90 percent of oil production and 72 percent of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut down. Three million barrels a day of refining capacity remains offline because of the hurricanes, and could take two to four weeks to get fully back up.

Source: Xinhua