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According to Reuters, BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Tullow Oil were all lower at the start of trading today (October 5th), after the price of oil declined to below $70 (£43).
As a result, the index was up by only 0.54 points to 4,989.24 at 09:52 BST, despite increases in a number of mining shares.
Vedanta Resources, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Antofagasta climbed by up to 3.5 per cent on the news that they have been upgraded to 'buy' by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
And in the financial sector, HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered were all higher.
However, it was RBS that led the way, beginning the day with a 1.8 per cent jump.
Market analyst Nicola Poskitt observed that the "sharp equity losses" seen on the FTSE last week have made investors cautious about the prospects for economic recovery.
