Crude oil prices posted gains on Thursday, a day after plunging nearly , amid renewed concerns about gasoline shortages and supply disruption in Ecuador and Nigeria. ”We do not believe that the oil market has yet fully convinced itself that more than is sustainable in terms of growth,” said one analyst.

Crude futures edged back on Tuesday after prices had rallied to a new record high at ,27 a barrel. The market was still on watch for potential terrorist threats in Saudi Arabia and spirits remained dampened over refinery outages in the United States. Traders were also awaiting the weekly inventory snapshot from the US.

Back-to-back refinery fires in Texas and Louisiana sent crude futures back above a barrel on Friday as the unplanned outages fanned fears that production may not be able to meet demand in coming months. An explosion and fire was reported at British Petroleum’s Texas City plant on Thursday night.

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday on persistent fears that the heating oil supply would run short this winter when demand is expected to peak. Ongoing concerns about United States stock levels keep overall sentiment in the market bullish, said Julian Lee, an energy analyst with the London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies.