Indications that high prices are hurting demand for oil in the consuming West, confirmed by Friday's US jobs report that was the worst since September, have alarmed a group of OPEC's
core members enough that they are expected to push for a rise in output at the producer group's Wednesday meeting in Vienna.
But OPEC delegates gathering in Vienna said a deal to do more than close the gap between the official output target and actual production could prove difficult.
That gap stands at about 1.4 million bpd — the difference between OPEC's latest estimate of its output, 26.2 million bpd, and the 24.84 million bpd formal target set in December 2008.
Opposition to higher OPEC output targets is expected from Iran and Venezuela.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 hit a more than two-month low as US stocks extended a five-week decline on signs of a slowing economy.
Brent crude for July delivery fell 91 cents to $114.93 a barrel by 1:12 p.m. EDT (1712 GMT), off the session low of $114.14.
US July crude fell $1 to $99.22 a barrel, having seesawed either side of front-month crude's 100-day moving average of $99.67 and the 20-day MA of $99.90, after dropping as low as $98.64 and.
"Crude oil futures have been choppy, moving in the recent range, cautious ahead of this week's OPEC meeting," said Andrew Lebow, broker at MF Global in New York.
"Volume is modest at this point as people are awaiting results of the meeting on Wednesday. Also being watched are developments in the Middle East and North Africa."
Total crude trading volumes lagged in afternoon trading in New York, still well below 30- and 250-day averages.
TransCanada Corp.'s restart of its 591,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Keystone crude oil pipeline on Sunday, a week after being shut by a leak at a Kansas pumping station, provided additional pressure on oil prices.
The dollar recovered against the euro and the dollar index also turned slightly higher, after early weakness had supported dollar-denominated oil prices.
The euro fell back after a German official suggested a second Greek bailout was not yet certain, but the prospect of higher euro zone interest rates was expected to limit the single currency's losses.
The possibility of a tropical cyclone developing over the next 48 hours, reported by the US National Hurricane Center, limited the downside for oil prices because of the potential of storm-related disruptions to US Gulf of Mexico and Gulf Coast oil production.
Turmoil in the Middle East and Africa, most notably in Yemen and Syria, also helped limit crude price losses.
Fuel shortages worsened as Yemen's main oil pipeline remained shut and tight funding hit imports.
