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New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March was up two cents to $96.68 a barrel in morning trade and Brent North Sea crude for March delivery climbed 18 cents to $116.70.
A slowdown in contraction of eurozone business activity soothed fears about political uncertainty in Italy and Spain -- which had sent markets plunging in the US and Europe Monday -- while upbeat US services sector data lifted US oil futures.
Malaysian bank CIMB said in a research note the rebound in the US services sector in January signalled "growth in 90% of the US economy and stronger demand for crude".
A rebound in global stock markets also helped lift oil prices, analysts said.
"European markets steadied the ship last night to reinforce that the start-of-week wobble could be just a blip rather than a shift back to the dark days of eurozone panic attacks," said Jason Hughes, head of premium client management at IG Markets Singapore.
Economics research house pointed to a "broad-based" recovery in the manufacturing sector worldwide, which is supportive of energy demand.
The forward-looking purchasing managers' indices for Latin America and emerging Asia "have risen rapidly since mid-2012 and the latest figures point to a turnaround in emerging Europe too", it said.
