Oil ends lower on Greece, Brent gains

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Crude-oil futures settled lower Monday, awash in oil demand concerns as Greek leaders sought an agreement on more austerity measures, the dollar traded higher, and rival Brent futures climbed.

Oil for March delivery �declined 93 cents, or 1%, to end at $96.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded as low as $96.38 a barrel, and as high as $97.75 a barrel earlier.

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That contrasted with steep gains for Europe�s benchmark, ICE-traded Brent , which gained on geopolitical concerns surrounding Iran and Nigeria, and a cold snap in Europe.

Brent for March delivery ended $1.35 higher, or 1.2%, at $115.93 a barrel on ICE Futures in London.

�Investors are increasing their exposure to Brent,� said David Bouckhout, an analyst with TD Securities in Calgary.

Meanwhile, Greek authorities tried unsuccessfully to convince leaders of the three parties backing the government that more austerity measures are needed if Greece is to avoid a messy default. The talks have been delayed until Tuesday to allow the premier to meet with international creditors, according to reports. Read more on Greece.

Market �sentiment remained cautious amidst concerns over (the euro zone) debt issue,� analysts at India�s ICICI Bank said in a note to clients.

Lower demand for oil amid a global economic slowdown if Europe runs into more trouble is at the heart of that caution.

Adding pressure to the New York-traded oil on Monday, the dollar index DXY , which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, traded at 79.012 Monday, up from 78.969 in late North American trading on Friday.

A higher dollar is a negative for oil and other dollar-denominated commodities as it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies.

New York-traded oil on Friday broke off a string of losses following an upbeat U.S. jobs report. Read about Friday's action.

Support for Friday�s action also came from the tensions between Iran and Western powers, with Iranian leaders reiterating they won�t give up nuclear ambitions and warning against any attack on Iran.

Gasoline bucks the trend

Oil products bucked the trend, with gasoline advancing as the market reacted to a refinery outage in Indiana last week.

Gasoline for March delivery �advanced 1 cent, or 0.5%, to finish at $2.93 a gallon.

A BP Plc. BP refinery in Whiting, Ind., shut down last week for unplanned work, with the unit back in operation on Saturday, according to news reports.

Investors were reacting to the shutdown news on Monday, the first trading day after the stoppage had become public, said Hamza Khan, an analyst with the Schork Group in the Philadelphia area.

Gasoline markets have been shaken by other refinery shutdowns and concerns about weak demand amid the slow-going U.S. recovery.

Also on Nymex Monday, natural gas for March delivery �advanced 5 cents, or 2%, to $2.55 per million British thermal units.

Natural-gas futures have recently recovered from their lowest prices in a decade but remain mostly under pressure from more production and a warmer-than-usual winter season.

March heating oil �rose 6 cents, or 1.8%, to end the day at $3.17 per gallon.