By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose to trade above $71 a barrel early Friday, stabilizing after having tumbled more than 6% in the previous session, as traders continued to worry about a prospective slowdown in global energy demand. Crude for November delivery rose $1.55 to $71.40 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. Earlier in the session, crude had touched an intraday low of $69.84 a barrel. "It seems to me that short-covering is driving the market higher," said Zachary Oxman, a senior trader at Wisdom Financial. "The dollar is slightly weak, but crude appears to be a bit oversold." On Thursday, oil futures fell $4.69, or 6.3%, to finish at $69.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange -- the lowest closing mark seen on Nymex since late August 2007. Despite Friday's rebound, "the general sentiment remains negative, as investors are still haunted by fears of a sharp slowdown in demand for energy due to cooling of the global economy," said analysts at Sucden Research in a note. Late Thursday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said that it has decided to reschedule its extraordinary meeting for Oct. 24 rather than Nov. 18 as previously announced. The OPEC meeting will focus on the global financial crisis, the world economic situation and the impacts on the oil market. Also Thursday, Qatar's oil minister said that he expects OPEC to cut its output by no less than 1 million barrels a day during the upcoming meeting, Reuters reported. The report cited remarks by minister Abdullah al-Attiyah on Al Jazeera television. U.S. crude and motor gasoline supplies each rose for a third week in a row, while distillate inventories fell for a seventh-straight week, according to government-compiled updates. "Welcome relief from the relentless selling will naturally beg the question, is it over?" said Michael Fitzpatrick, an analyst at MF Global, in a research note. "This morning's 6.3% drop in September housing starts will serve as the resounding answer." Construction of new homes dwindled to a 17-year low last month as builders sought to reduce the number of unsold properties on the market, Commerce Department data showed Friday. See Economic Report. "Once the [oil] market establishes an equilibrium level, it will probably remain there for some time," Fitzpatrick said. "As we have been saying, because the market is running on emotion, where that level is will be a subjective determination and impossible to pinpoint. It must be close." Also on the Globex, November reformulated gasoline rose 4 cents to $1.66 a gallon and November heating oil gained 5 cents to $2.13 a gallon. November natural gas futures rose 13 cents to $6.84 per million British thermal units.

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