Crude oil fell in New York as concerns that damage from Japan’s earthquake will limit crude demand outweighed heightening tensions in the Middle East.

Crude oil for April delivery dropped as much as 35 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $100.84 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $100.86 at 9:31 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract added 3 cents to $101.19.

Brent oil for April settlement traded at $113.05 a barrel, down 14 cents on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract slid 17 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $113.67 yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at Christian.s@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Clyde Russell at crussell7@bloomberg.net