The crude oil benchmark of $ 96.77 U.S. a barrel to settle at 60 cents per hour increase. Thank you for the markets were closed for a holiday before the United States on Wednesday dropped by $ 1.84. Week, however, the oil lost 0.7 percent.

European credit crisis continues to undermine confidence in the continent to avoid recession next year, oil had fallen earlier.

London, January Brent crude for delivery ICE Futures Exchange to settle at $ 106.40 a barrel, fell by $ 1.38.

Fiscal austerity measures aimed at reducing debt levels in Europe and demand for oil will affect world economic growth last week, investor concern that helped drag crude back above $ 103.

From Greece, Portugal, Italy, Spain and Ireland to undermine confidence in Germany and France, started to spread widely. Germany's 10-year bond yield for the first time in 2009, rose above the 10-year British government bonds. And Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the financial nilaiyaipparri Belgium, the country's government and a looming European recession due to a stalemate.

"The crisis in the euro area, even the most robust European economy is beginning to threaten the bond markets - Germany," Barclays Capital said in a statement.

In the United States, meanwhile, the average price of a gallon of gas a week from $ 3.38 $ 3.31 (87 cents a liter), has fallen to. A discount of two months ago, even heftier 20 cents a gallon compared to (3.8 liter) is. In fact, the holiday shopping season, driving from store to store on the first weekend in late winter from American shoppers use some of the gas, pay the lowest price.

Even with the recent decline, however, gas prices 44 cents a gallon higher than a year ago is Black Friday. Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, $ 488 billion Americans spend on gas this year, that path is. Eclipses the $ 40 billion record set in 2008. 7.9 percent of households in the United States until 2010 and 2008 OPIS 6.7 percent from 8.4 percent in the year of income spent on petrol as they reported last week.

National average of just $ 4 a gallon gasoline in May ($ 1.05 a liter) came down.

One reason for this is that the bustling shopping malls as shoppers use the cashmere sweaters, video consoles, tablet computers and flat-screen televisions to watch vilaikkuraikka. Re-invest their savings believe that shoppers use the retail pump. Kloza current demand, gas price for every 10 percent decline, Americans are spending another $ 36 million in total savings, he estimates.

Current demand for gas in the United States is Kloza says "surprisingly poor." Oil and gas prices of about $ 17 a barrel in the past two months, or even increased by 21 percent, the main reason why it is abandoned.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil and $ 2.94 per gallon and gasoline futures dropped 3.1 cents per gallon to $ 2.5205, after losing 4.45 cents. To $ 3.665 per 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas, added 5.7 cents.