WORLD oil prices were up more than one dollar in Asian trade on Thursday shortly after the US Senate approved a revised government proposal to bail out the US financial sector.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, was US$1.23 (S$1.77) higher at US$99.76 a barrel from US$98.53 at the close of floor trading on Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent North Sea crude for November delivery gained US$1.70 a barrel to US$97.03 from US$95.33 on Wednesday in London.

After the Senate's approval, the bill to purchase up to US$700 billion worth of tainted mortgage-related assets at the root of a global financial crisis must face a vote in the House of Representatives.

Analysts have said collapse of the plan would further heighten worries of an even sharper slowdown in the already-weak US economy, a major buyer of the world?s exports.

Oil prices have already dropped sharply from record high levels above US$147 in July on worries that demand is shrinking in a US-led global slowdown. -- AFP