Oil regains early losses ahead of U.S. vote

By Annika Breidthardt

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil seesawed on Tuesday to above $64 a barrel, after tumbling the previous session on renewed fears of an economic recession, as investors were unwilling to place big bets before the U.S. presidential election.

Crude oil has plummeted from its record above $147 a barrel in July as the credit crisis hits the real economy and limits fuel use in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, and other key consumer nations.

U.S. light crude for December delivery rose 12 cents to $64.03 a barrel by 6:57 a.m. British time, after earlier falling as low as $63.03 and shedding almost $4 in the previous session. Last month, oil posted its steepest monthly price decline.

London Brent crude retreated 13 cents to $60.35 a barrel.

After almost two years of campaigning, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain swept across battleground states on Monday to wrap up a U.S. presidential election, in which Obama was leading but McCain hoped to pull off an upset.

"Traders are only focussing on one event for the next 24 hours, and that is the election," said Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director of U.S. based options trader Hudson Capital Energy.

"Although once the results are in, the market should still head lower, no matter who wins. It's just that things appear to be put on hold for the next 24 hours," he added.

On Monday, a slew of weak economic data indicating blunted oil demand had sent oil tumbling, taking centrestage over any signs that top oil producer Saudi Arabia had cut back crude output in line with last month's OPEC decision.