Oil near $US97 a barrel

Oil rose on Friday in post-holiday, low-volume trading, but was down slightly for the week.

The benchmark for crude oil in the US rose 60 cents to settle at $US96.77. It had dropped $US1.84 on Wednesday, before markets in the US were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Oil had fallen earlier as Europe's debt crisis continues to undermine confidence the continent will avoid recession next year.

In London, Brent crude for January delivery fell $US1.38 to settle at $US106.40 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Investor concern that fiscal austerity measures aimed at lowering Europe's debt levels will hurt global economic growth and oil demand has helped pull crude back from above $US103 last week.

Uncertainty about contagion spreading from Greece to Portugal, Italy, Spain and Ireland has begun to undermine confidence in Germany and France. The yield on Germany's 10-year bond rose above the 10-year UK government bond for the first time since 2009. And on Friday Standard & Poor's downgraded Belgium's financial standing, citing the country's government stalemate and the looming European recession.

"The eurozone sovereign crisis is starting to threaten the bond markets of even the most solid European economy - Germany," Barclays Capital said in a report.

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