Crude-oil futures rose Monday, climbing more than 3% as global stocks moved higher and as concerns increased that militant unrest in Nigeria may disrupt supplies from Africa's biggest oil producer. U.S. stocks rallied, following gains in Asia and Europe, on hopes that data will show that housing markets are stabilizing. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, clashes between government forces and rebels reportedly continued Monday. Crude for June delivery gained $1.76, or 3.1%, to $58.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It ended last week's trading down 4% on worries that global energy demand will fall prey to further erosion. "The potential for disruption of Nigeria's oil production may be a supportive background feature for crude oil prices," said Brenda Sullivan, analyst at Sucden Financial Research, in a note. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Nigeria's main militant group, said on Monday it would put in place blockades on key waterways in the Niger Delta to try to prevent crude exports, Reuters reported. A survey from the National Association of Home Builders is the key release for Monday's calendar. The report is expected to show yet another month of improvement and could be at its highest level since June. And on Tuesday, the Commerce Department is expected to report construction on new homes and apartments may have risen modestly in April. See full story. U.S. builder Lowe's Cos. reported Monday a first-quarter profit that dropped a smaller-than-expected 22%. Analysts expect home-improvement leader Home Depot Inc. ) may also show a smaller-than-expected profit decline when it reports financial results on Tuesday. In other news Monday, a fire caused by an explosion Sunday night at Sunoco Inc.'s Marcus Hook, Pa., oil refinery was still burning Monday morning, according to news reports. Sunoco has ramped up production at its plants in Philadelphia and Westville, N.J., in order to make up for the production losses at Marcus Hook, Dow Jones Newswire reported, citing the company's spokesman. Combined, the two refineries can process up to 480,000 barrels a day. Weak demand Weak demand remains in the cards for crude. The International Energy Agency forecast in its monthly update last week that global oil demand will suffer the biggest drop this year since 1981. The IEA said it now expects demand to fall by fully 2.6 million barrels a day from 2008 levels. This would be 200,000 barrels more than the IEA had projected a month ago, according to the agency's monthly report. The IEA report confirmed that fundamentals in the oil market "have been weak and are getting weaker," said Hussein Allidina, analyst at Morgan Stanley, in a research note. "Equally apparent, however, is that the fundamentals have had very little impact on crude oil's recent price action." Also in energy trading to start the week, June-dated reformulated gasoline gained 4.6 cents, or 2.8%, to $1.727 a gallon, and June heating oil rose 4.16 cents, or 2.9%, to $1.4604 a gallon Natural gas for June delivery also rose, up 2.3 cents, or 0.6%, to $4.121 per million British thermal units.

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