Oil prices were mixed today with markets increasingly worried about a possible return to recession that would dampen energy demand.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, was down $1.35 to $85.10 a barrel this afternoon, but firmer compared with an earlier plunge under $84.
Brent North Sea crude jumped $1.80 to $111.88 in London deals, with analysts suggesting the recovery was because the contract had been oversold in recent days.
The euro zone debt crisis and weak economic data out of the US pointing to a possible return to recession were all weighing on oil prices today.
