Oil prices fell for a fifth straight session on the prospect of weaker growth on both sides of the Atlantic at a time of ample supply from major oil producers.
Brent crude fell 1.6%, below $112 a barrel, and U.S. crude lost 2% to trade near $96.
Analysts said that the results in France and Greece raised doubts about the euro zone's ability to proceed with austerity measures seen as crucial to addressing soaring debt and a contracting economy.
Voters in both countries displayed their discontent with austerity measures by flocking to candidates and political parties which have called for an easing of belt tightening in the embattled euro bloc.
In France, Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande ousted President Nicolas Sarkozy, becoming the first socialist in 17 years to lead the country. In Greece, mainstream parties that supported an EU-IMF bailout of the debt-strapped country lost control of parliament.
Oil prices were also facing downside pressure from expectations of a spike in US crude stockpiles for the seventh consecutive week, indicating faltering demand in the world's top oil user, according to analysts. The weekly inventory report from the US Energy Department is due tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Kuwait's Oil Minister Hani Hussein said in comments published today that $100 a barrel is a "fair" price for oil justified by market forces, but that geopolitical events were pushing the price higher.
But Saudi Arabia said prices were too high. "Oil prices are still too high," Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi told reporters in Tokyo.
He also reiterated that the kingdom was very well-equipped to fill any gap between global supply and demand thanks to its ample spare crude-oil output capacity and oil stocks.
"We have 2.5 million barrels a day of spare capacity, and 80 million barrels of stocks," said Naimi, adding that his country was producing around 10 million barrels of crude oil a day.
