Oil falls in Asia as traders eye Italian elections

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, dropped six cents to $93.07 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April shed 12 cents to $113.98.

"Italian elections end later today and are keeping traders cautious," said a report from IG Markets Singapore.

An average of the most recent polls gave centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani 34 percent of the vote, former premier Silvio Berlusconi 30 percent, Beppe Grillo 17 percent and outgoing prime minister Mario Monti around 11 percent.

Bersani has said he will continue with the budget discipline enforced by Monti if he wins the elections, to the delight of financial markets.

But he will come under pressure to ease back on austerity and do more to promote growth and jobs as Italy endures its longest recession in 20 years and unemployment sits at a record high of 11.2 percent.

A return to the days of free-wheeling public finances could spell disaster for the eurozone, which has been beset by a debt crisis.