Oil climbed back above $64 a barrel this evening as it followed equity markets higher and recovered from deep falls to a 17-month low.
US light crude for December delivery was 53 cents higher at $64.68 a barrel and London Brent crude was 52 cents firmer at $62.57.
Earlier, US crude touched a low of $61.30 a barrel as oil traders anticipated weakened demand for fuel and gloom about the world economy weighed on Asian and European stock markets. Brent fell as low as $59 a barrel.
But positive company news helped to push US equities higher and oil became less bearish.
Oil traders were also watching for signs the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would implement the 1.5 million barrels per day output cut it agreed on Friday.
Asian oil refiners said they had yet to receive notice of any curbs on their Gulf crude oil shipments, but most were expecting a 5% cut.
Iran's OPEC Governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi has said the group would reduce production further if the cut agreed in Vienna on Friday did not stabilise the market.
Oil prices have dropped by nearly 60% from a record high above $147 a barrel in July. Demand has fallen in the US, the world's top energy consumer, and in other industrial countries as the credit crisis infects the wider economy and begins to spread to emerging markets.
In China, for example, apparent oil demand rose by just over 2% in September, the slowest growth in 10 months.
