On New York's Nymex exchange a barrel of West Texas Intermediate for May delivery pared 15 cents to $105.60.

In London, the benchmark Brent North Sea crude added 15 cents to $115.72.

"We ran into some profit taking," said John Kilduff of Again Capital.

"What was haunting the market all day was the durable goods report that was disappointing and bearish."

US government figures for February showed a 0.9 percent drop in factory orders, mainly due to lower demand for machinery, a barometer of economic growth, and for defence equipment.

The fall surprised economists who had expected orders to rise.

"We expected a hefty rebound after the blizzards depressed core orders in January," said Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics.

But little news about how the fighting in Libya could be resolved, and of the progress in Japan's nuclear emergency, also dulled trading.

"The market didn't move much in either direction, as geopolitically there really has been no change, Libya and Japan still dominate market moves," said BMO Capital Markets.