OIL prices fell to US$93 (S$135) a barrel on Friday in Asia as investors waited to see if a reworked US$700 billion financial industry bailout package will pass the US Congress and help stabilise the economy of the world?s biggest crude consumer.

US light crude for November delivery fell 51 cents to US$93.45 a barrel in electroic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. Prices fell overnight US$4.56 to settle at US$93.97.

The US House of Representatives is expected to vote later on Friday on the rescue package, after the Senate overwhelmingly approved it on Wednesday. House lawmakers stunned investors on Monday by rejecting the bailout plan, although the Senate added US$100 billion in tax breaks and other sweeteners in a bid to win over enough dissenting House votes.

'Approving the bailout may create a little bounce and alleviate the negative sentiment temporarily,' said Mr John Vautrain, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. 'The problem is US gasoline demand has been off one heck of lot.'

Statistics from the US Labour Department released on Thursday showed more signs of a weakening economy, adding to concerns about falling oil demand.

The Labour Department reported that initial claims for jobless benefits increased by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 497,000, significantly above analysts' estimate of 475,000 and a seven-year high.

Also on Thursday, the Commerce Department said factory orders in August plunged by 4 per cent compared to July, a much steeper decline than the 2.5 per cent drop analysts expected and the biggest setback since a 4.8 per cent plunge in October 2006.

'All the indicators have been very negative,' Mr Vautrain said. 'There's been an economic wallop, and people don't have as much money to spend.'

Significant gains over the past days by the dollar against the euro have also helped push down prices. Investors tend to buy commodities like oil to defend against dollar weakness and a hedge against inflation, but return to the US currency as it strengthens.

The 15-nation euro was steady at US$1.38 in trading Friday while the dollar was little changed at 105.06 yen.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 0.2 cents to US$2.71 a gallon, while gasoline prices dropped 1.5 cents to US$2.24 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery fell 6.1 cents to US$7.42 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, November Brent crude fell 43 cents to US$90.13 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.