Oil rises to around $126, stabilising after drop

London: Oil rose on Friday to around $126 a barrel, finding some stability after two weeks of losses, as buyers came back into the market before the weekend.

Concern that high prices and the slowing US economy will undermine demand have driven oil down from a record peak of $147.27 on July 11, but technical trading and a short-covering bounce helped buoy prices on Thursday.

US crude rose 66 cents to $126.15 a barrel by 1200 GMT. It gained $1.05 a barrel a day ago, recovering from a seven-week low. London Brent rose 48 cents to $126.92.

Oil's rally, which Opec has blamed on factors beyond supply and demand, has led to pressure on politicians to take action to help consumers paying higher fuel prices.

The US Senate will vote on Friday on a Democratic bill that seeks to curb excessive speculation in the energy markets, but Republicans said they had the votes to block its passage.