Oil prices were under pressure from the prospect of lower demand in quake-devastated Japan, the world's third-largest economy and heavily dependent on energy imports.

But losses were capped by mounting Middle East supply concerns as Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain, traders said.

"Clearly the market is reacting to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan where we had a lot of damage (and) a number of refineries have shut down or suspended operations," said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, edged up three cents to close at $101.19 a barrel, after earlier diving below $99 for the first time in two weeks.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for April settled at $113.67 a barrel, losing 17 cents from the Friday closing level.

In earlier trade oil had been under pressure as traders fretted about slashed output and demand from Japan, devastated in the northeast by a deadly earthquake and massive tsunami last Friday.

"Oil got a little bit ahead of itself, down to $98.47 and we're developing a little bit of supporting levels," said Rich Ilczyszyn at Lind-Waldock

"The market is anticipating that it's going to take quite some time to determine how much demand is going to be lost."

The shutdown of refineries in Japan is expected to weigh on crude oil demand in the near term, Morgan Stanley analyst Hussein Allidina said.

"However, nuclear generation is likely to be offline for far longer than refiners are, and this should ultimately prove constructive for crude," he said.

Oil prices gained ground after news that Saudi Arabia has sent troops into Bahrain to help restore order amid pro-democracy protests in the strategic Gulf kingdom. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil supplier.

"The Bahrain/Saudi issue... was the main reason lifting oil back up from lows today in my view," said SEB chief commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop.

"The Bahrain conflict is important since Bahrain is located close to Saudi's major oil installations on the eastern shore of Saudi Arabia."

Thousands of mainly Shiite protesters occupied Manama's business district, turning the regional banking hub into a ghost town as they pressed their calls for democratic change from the Sunni Muslim monarchy.

The Saudi government said it had responded to a call for help from its neighbor as Saudi-led forces from the Gulf countries' joint Peninsula Shield Force crossed the causeway separating the two countries.

Investors were also following the unrest in oil-producing Libya, where rebels continue to battle forces loyal to leader Moamer Kadhafi. Libya's state agency said Monday that Kadhafi had invited Chinese, Russian and Indian firms to produce its oil, replacing Western companies that had fled unrest.

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