OIL finished little changed yesterday, after being up more than US$1 earlier in the day. Benchmark crude fell 2 cents to US$93.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Uncertainty over the outcome of Italy's general election contributed to a weaker euro and a stronger dollar. A stronger dollar tends to put pressure on oil prices by making crude more expensive for traders using other currencies.

In China, a survey released yesterday showed manufacturing declined to a four-month low in February, a reminder of possible threats to recovery in the world's second biggest economy.

Traders are keeping an eye on a new round of talks beginning today in Kazakhstan between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

Iran, nominally one of the world's top oil producers, has had to make substantial output cuts because US-led sanctions are greatly limiting its crude exports.

In London, Brent crude was up 34 cents to end at US$114.44 on the ICE futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

- Wholesale gasoline was unchanged at US$3.26 a gallon.

- Heating oil fell less than 1 cent to finish at US$3.10 a gallon.

- Natural gas rose 12 cents to end at US$3.41 per 1,000 cubic feet.