LONDON: Oil prices fell on Tuesday as Libya readied to resume its crude exports after months of waiting, although a flare up in Russia-Ukraine tensions kept a lid on losses, traders said.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for May delivery, slipped 33 cents to stand at $103.72 a barrel compared with Monday's closing level.
Brent North Sea crude for May was down 22 cents at $108.85 a barrel in late London deals.
Crude oil prices had marched higher on Monday as traders kept a wary eye on escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine that have raised fears of a disruption to energy supplies to Western Europe.
"The Ukraine crisis is likely to remain in a deadlock and should continue to render good support to benchmark crude prices in the near term," Tan Chee Tat, an analyst at brokers Phillip Futures, told AFP.
But prices were lower compared with Monday's closing values as Libya prepared to resume oil exports for the first time in more than eight months, after autonomy-seeking rebels agreed to lift their blockade of eastern ports.
Libya's oil output is likely to quadruple from current levels and hit 1.0 million barrels per day by mid-June following the deal, OPEC Secretary General Abdullah El-Badri said last week.
Meanwhile with Ukraine a key conduit for Russia's gas to western Europe, traders fear that any full-scale armed conflict between the two countries will disrupt supplies and send oil and gas prices skyrocketing.
Russian deliveries account for 34 percent of the natural gas supplies to the European Union, according to the Soufan Group, a US-based intelligence firm.
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