Yahoo! Inc., owner of the most-visited U.S. Internet site, had some temporary technical problems with its instant messenger service early today in Europe. It resumed work after 9 a.m. London time. Many crude and oil product traders, brokers and industry analysts use the service to communicate.

``We understand some users may not have been able to access Yahoo! Messenger earlier today,'' David Sawday, the London-based director of corporate communications at Yahoo, said in an e-mail. ``This now seems to be resolved and we apologize for any inconvenience.''