Oil prices wavered Monday, falling below $115 US as traders monitored fighting between Russia and Georgia that could potentially disrupt supplies.

Light, sweet crude fell 75 cents to close at $114.45 US a barrel in New York after dipping as low as $112.72, its lowest level since early May.

Buying was limited as the U.S. dollar edged higher against the euro and pound. The strengthening U.S. currency, as well as signs that demand growth is moderating in key energy-consuming countries around the world, has sapped the momentum from this year's surge in energy prices.

"The market's still kind of reeling," said Darin Newsom, senior analyst at DTN in Omaha, Neb. He said the recent drop in crude attracted a bit of buying Monday, particularly as many traders focused on the Russia-Georgia conflict. But, he said, more signs of economic slowdown could take prices back below $100 a barrel — a level not seen since early April.

After falling nearly $10 a barrel last week, light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $1.70 to $113.50 a barrel in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

U.S. retail gasoline prices edged down to $3.81 a gallon ($1.07 Cdn a litre), on average, on Monday from $3.818 a day earlier, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. On July 17, the average hit a record $4.114.

The average price for a litre of regular in Canada remained around $1.31 Cdn, little changed from the day before, according to price monitoring website GasBuddy.com.

With files from the Associated Press