This week's tumble in oil prices halted today as traders weighed lingering US refinery and oilfield outages against signs of weakening demand.
Washington's expressed readiness to use emergency crude or heating oil inventories to offset lost supplies this winter has helped drag oil $5 lower this week, although prices are still 42 per cent higher than the start of the year.
Crude was up 24 cents at $61.60 a barrel after a five-day losing streak. Prices are now nearly 13 percent below their all-time high of $70.85 a barrel struck in late August.
Prices fell this week after data showed the US, world's top consumer, was burning less gasoline and other fuels due to higher prices.
US refiners worked at only about 70 per cent of capacity last week, the lowest since the US government started keeping weekly records in 1990, causing fuel stocks to fall sharply.
Oil traders say prices have also been put under pressure by the West's apparent readiness to use government-held strategic inventories to offset lost crude and fuel supplies.