Oil prices were lower in Asian trade today as the market awaited the outcome of a European Union summit on containing the euro zone debt crisis, analysts said.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in March, shed 29 cents to $99.27 a barrel in morning trade.
Brent North Sea crude for March delivery was down 15 cents at $111.31.
"The main factor affecting oil prices right now has to be the debt situation in Europe and the outcome of today's summit in Brussels," said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore.
EU leaders are set to meet to finalise details on a fiscal pact to reign in budget deficits and to endorse a permanent bailout fund with a lending capacity of 500 billion euros ($650 billion).
The summit comes as Greece -- the epicentre of the euro zone's debt crisis -- inches towards striking an agreement with private creditors to erase 100 billion euros of its debt and implementing a new recovery plan put forward by the International Monetary Fund and the EU.
The euro zone and the IMF are demanding this commitment, even asking for it in writing as a precondition for a second 130 billion euro rescue package.
Analysts said the situation in West Asia continues to be a factor influencing oil prices.
The EU last week imposed fresh sanctions on Iranian oil as part of a concerted effort with the US to pressure Tehran into halting its controversial nuclear activities.
Iran is the second-biggest producer in Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), behind Saudi Arabia. It pumps some 3.5 million barrels a day, and exports 2.5 million.
