Oil falls for 3rd day to below $80

But they wobbled and fell late in the week as weak earnings results from the U.S. and a rise in US jobless claims drove investors to reconsider the pace of the economic recovery and its impact on energy demand.

US crude for December delivery fell 60 cents to $79.90 by 0123 GMT,after having earlier fallen as low as $79.57. The contract settled down 69 cents a barrel at $80.50 on Friday,squeezing out a weekly gain of 2.5 percent.

London Brent crude fell 62 cents to $78.30.

“Asian speculators are cutting their positions after the fall on Wall Street last week. But a rebound in the Dow Jones futures this morning has helped limit the drop in oil prices,” said Ryuichi Sato,an analyst at Mizuho Corporate Bank.

“But overall,the market is cautious about pushing oil prices higher because the demand fundamentals are still weak and the world economy is still fragile.”

Comments from producer group OPEC last week that it would raise output targets at a December meeting has also cast a pall on the oil market,analysts said.