Oil prices surged on Tuesday as refineries shut down by Hurricane Harvey began to restart.

Refineries were mostly up and running in Corpus Christi, Texas, where Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Aug. 25.

Dozens of refineries were forced to shut operation in the past few days in severe weather. Study showed the hurricane shut down more than 20 percent of U.S. refining capacity.

Latest data showed that 16 percent of U.S. refining capacity remained offline on Monday evening.

Moreover, the U.S. dollar fell against other major currencies on Tuesday amid rising geopolitical tensions, making the dollar-priced oil more attractive for investors holding other currencies. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.24 percent at 92.410 in late trading.

The West Texas Intermediate for October Delivery added 1.37 dollar to settle at 48.66 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for November delivery gained 0.63 dollar to close at 53.38 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.