World oil prices were narrowly mixed today after starting the week with losses.
Traders were balancing economic and political worries over the euro zone against tight supply concerns.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June fell 18 cents to $118.53 a barrel in London deals, a day after briefly dropping under $118.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June rose 11 cents to $103.22.
Oil prices slipped yesterday on weak economic data and euro zone political uncertainty after the poor showing of Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of France's presidential election and after the Dutch government resigned.
Analysts said the slight price recovery seen today is largely due to supply risks as oil production at the Buzzard oilfield in the North Sea has been interrupted following an incident.
The Buzzard oilfield, operated by Canadian company Nexen was halted on Saturday after a technical incident but is expected to resume output over the next two days.
Oil traders are also waiting for tomorrow's weekly snapshot of crude reserves in the US, the biggest oil-consuming country in the world.
