LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose above $62 a barrel on Friday, as a weaker dollar helped support prices that had fallen to 20-month lows on gloom about the outlook for world economic growth.
U.S. crude for December delivery was up $1.42 at $62.19 a barrel by 6:19 a.m. EST. It earlier fell to $59.97 a barrel, its lowest since March 22, 2007.
London Brent Crude was up $1.52 at $58.95 a barrel.
"The pullback in the U.S. dollar is a key driver for oil's gains," said Toby Hassall, chief analyst at Commodities Warrants Australia in Sydney.
"But a weak global demand outlook will continue to be the primary driver in oil market."
Oil fell below $60 a barrel for the first time since March 2007 on Thursday, depressed by dismal projections for economic growth in the world economy next year.
The International Monetary Fund has predicted 2009 global economic growth of 2.2 percent, down 0.8 percentage points from its October forecast.
Deutsche Bank was more pessimistic.
"The DB forecast for 2009, at 1.2 percent GDP growth, is even lower than the IMF - based on a lower assessment for China," the bank said in a research note.
"In our view, as economic forecasts fall, consensus oil price forecasts will follow a similar pattern of deterioration."
Deutsche Bank's current forecast is for $60 a barrel in 2009.
Oil's steep slide from a peak of more than $147 a barrel in July has already spurred OPEC to rein in supply from November 1. Some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries want to cut more.
Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez has said OPEC should act again. "We say (a new cut should be) at least a million," he told Reuters on Thursday.
But Shokri Ghanem, Libya's top oil official, said the group was not actively considering cutting output again.
OPEC is due to meet next on December 17.
Some analysts believe the market's precipitous fall since July might have been overdone.
"Despite all of the evidence of weak demand and ample stocks, we think the current valuation reflects a lack of appreciation for the adjustments being made on the supply side of the market," said Tim Evans at Citi Futures Perspective.
All markets will look to U.S. economic indicators due later on Friday, including government data on October unemployment data and September wholesale inventories, to gauge how the world's largest economy is faring.
(Reporting by Jane Merriman in London and Fayen Wong in Perth)
