Oil mixed as investors eye Fed

Singapore - Oil was mixed in Asian trade on Wednesday after the government in debt-ridden Greece survived a no-confidence vote and as investors awaited the results of a US central bank meeting.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude for August delivery, fell 58 cents to $93.59 a barrel in the afternoon.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August rose seven cents to $111.02.

Jason Feer, a Singapore-based analyst at Argus Media, said the Greek government surviving the no-confidence vote in parliament eased fears the country's financial turmoil could worsen and spread across the rest of Europe.

"One of the things weighing on people's minds is whether Greece would default as that would create more turmoil in the market," he said.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's Socialist government's victory allows it to pursue austere reforms needed to unlock vital new assistance from international creditors.

In a closing speech after three days of debate, Papandreou called for support "to avoid bankruptcy and keep Greece in the euro core."

Athens now effectively has two weeks to convince its European peers that it will carry out long-delayed structural reforms and privatisations in order to secure bailout money before its funds run dry.

The market was also awaiting the conclusion on Wednesday of a two-day meeting of the US central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

Fed policymakers were meeting amid signs of weakness in the world's biggest economy - and biggest oil consuming nation - that are clouding prospects for withdrawal from a massive financial stimulus.

The FOMC was debating an eventual exit strategy from the support it has extended since the 2008 financial meltdown.