No fresh supportive news was cited and traders said the rise does not seem backed by any strong upward momentum.

The January futures contract of West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) last traded on the after-hours ACCESS electronic trading system at $10.81 per barrel as of 0621 GMT, up nine cents from Thursday's floor settlement.

On Thursday, the January contract settled down 44 cents at $10.72, just above the July 1986 low of $10.65, as the United States soft-pedaled on the possibility of immediate military strikes against Iraq over the latest confrontation between Baghdad and the United Nations over arms inspection.

US defense secretary William Cohen said on Thursday Washington would wait until after next week to assess the situation following Iraq's refusal to allow full access by UN inspectors to the headquarters of the ruling Baath Party.

In London, IPE January Brent crude contract hit a new 12-year low of $9.60 on Thursday before settling a tad higher at $9.64.

On Simex on Friday, January Brent was not traded yet as of 0621 GMT, and was bid only at $9.50.

The continued slide in oil prices was exacerbated in late November when Opec members failed to draw up significant measures to help tighten the market.

But a much-desired fresh output cut by Opec producers in addition to the 2.6 million barrel-per-day reduction agreed in June could have little effect unless they first fully abide by the already agreed reduction, analysts say.

Also, economists see no quick fix to dwindled global oil demand due to an economic slowdown in many economies.

For Asia, where financial and economic crises have hit hard since July 1997, weak oil prices are not necessarily a boon.

Being a net importer, Asia could have been benefiting from low-priced oil imports. But the situation in some regional economies is far too serious and demand is already too low to enjoy the windfall benefit, said Taiyo Suzuki, senior economist at the Japan Research Institute's Asian study centre.

Japan, the largest importer in the region, will also see little merit. Rather, a deflationary impact is more likely with highly-depressed domestic oil product prices, which would eventually affect overall corporate earnings, analysts said.

"With the (Asian economic) situation as awful as it is, any potentially positive impact will be overshadowed," Suzuki said.

Furthermore, oil producing countries like Indonesia and Malaysia are to experience a more serious revenue fall as oil prices continue to sag, he said.

For Indonesia, especially, which is struggling to overcome its financial crisis, declines in its key revenue source are seen as a hard blow.