With less than three weeks to go before OPEC meets in Vienna and the selloff in oil showing few signs of letting up, speculation is mounting the group will take action to try to stem the decline.

A growing list of delayed or cancelled projects, seen by some investors as a healthy move by majors to rein in capital spend after a poor history of returns is working its way through corporate earnings; it has already pummelled the share price of some European suppliers seen as financially fragile.

West Texas Intermediate and Brent oils increased after U.S. employment gains exceeded 200,000 for a ninth month and the jobless rate dropped to a six-year low, bolstering the fuel demand outlook.

Egypt received $10.6 billion in aid from Gulf states in the last fiscal year

Transocean Ltd. (RIG), owner of the biggest fleet of deep-water drilling rigs, is feeling the effect of an industrywide glut in the expensive vessels just as crude-oil prices tumble.

OPEC Head Tells Oil Market to Stop Panicking About Prices

As Oil Plunges Further, Why It Might Be 'Game Over' For The Fracking Boom

WTI for December delivery rose $1.05, or 1.4 percent, to $78.96 a barrel at 9:40 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are down 2 percent this week and 20 percent this year.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR) headed for the longest losing streak in a year as plunging oil prices and currency weakness overshadowed a decision to give the state-run producer some relief from inflation-fighting policies.

Royal Dutch Shell plc third quarter 2014 results