Oil prices fell below $54 a barrel on Tuesday, hit by a resilient dollar and expectations of swelling crude oil stockpiles in the United States, the world's largest consumer.
U.S. light crude slid another 37 cents to $53.68 a barrel, taking two-day losses to more than $1. Prices are nearly $4 below their all-time peak from March 17, but still up 24 percent since the start of the year.
London's Brent crude fell $1.33 to $52.60 a barrel, catching up with U.S. futures after a long Easter break.
The dollar struck a five-month high versus the yen early on Tuesday, its ninth straight gain, and hovered near its six-week peak against the euro, with some speculative players liquidating oil profits to catch the rising trend.
Expectations that the U.S. would raise interest rates more aggressively has boosted the embattled dollar, gains that could test oil demand in countries that have been partly spared by high fuel prices thanks to strong local currencies.
U.S. gasoline continued to ease, slipping 67 points to $1.5660 a gallon, 4 cents below last week's record high.
Prices eased as dealers saw little market impact from last week's deadly blast at BP's giant Texas City refinery, which damaged an isomerization unit that upgrades the quality of gasoline but left most of the plant's operations unaffected.