US oil futures traded above 60 usd a barrel after an explosion at BP PLC's Texas City refinery yesterday reignited jitters of a squeeze in refined crude at the end of the year. At 10.40 am, US benchmark September-dated contracts were up 39 cents at 60.35 usd a barrel. In London, September-dated Brent futures contracts were up 43 cents at 59.19 usd. "The explosion caused knee-jerk buying across the oil complex, this has also triggered technical buying causing US oil futures to trade back above 60 usd a barrel," said Sucden broker Robert Montefusco. The market is highly nervous and any bullish news continues to trigger speculative interest in the market, he said, adding that the onset of this afternoon's US session will determine if oil prices reach new record highs. The blast occurred about 6.00 pm local time in a part of the 1,200-acre complex, far removed from a unit which exploded in March, leaving 15 people dead. BP spokesman Neil Geary said there was no connection between the two incidents. When fully operational, the Texas City plant processes 460,000 barrels of oil daily. Montefusco noted: "It appears that the plant is 60,000 barrels (a day) down from the blast, but there is a possibility that the blast will not affect production in the long term as they could move the (refining) production to another part of the plant" Separately, Montefusco noted that Saudi Arabia is to meet any loss of production in India after a fire at an Indian offshore oil platform Wednesday. The state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) platform pumps oil from the Mumbai High field, which produces 38 pct of the country's crude and also houses the country's biggest gas field, Bassein. "This will negate the problem in India, which is also dealing with the aftermath of severe flooding."