Oil prices ease back

Oil prices have eased back from record highs as fears over major disruption to Mexico's production began to fade.

The cost of light sweet crude for December fell 75 cents to $92.78 a barrel in early Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil had hit a new record of $93.53 a barrel on news that Mexico had shut a fifth of its production because of a storm, having reached as high as $93.80.

But concerns over lengthy production stoppages were allayed as market experts said the disruption to Mexico's state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos - one of America's largest suppliers - was likely only to be temporary.

The weakening of the dollar also put pressure on oil prices, with expectations for another cut in US interest rates sending the currency to a record low against the euro.

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