NEW YORK -- Oil prices fell Monday amid signs the disruption to crude exports from Libya is easing.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery dropped 73 cents to $97.15 per barrel as trading opened on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude 31 cents at $111.83 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Oil and gasoline prices soared as last week as the rebellion in Libya virtually halted oil shipments from the country. WTI hit $103.41 a barrel on Thursday before falling back. On Monday, oil dropped on reports that a tanker bound for China was loading oil in the Libyan port of Tobruk and Saudi Arabia was boosting exports.
Traders said they'd had booked a "fear premium" of about $15 to $20 per barrel to account for further disruptions in oil shipments as pro-reform movements swept through North Africa and the Middle East. Oil prices should slide as the situation in Libya stabilizes, analysts said.
However, energy markets are so rattled right now that continued unrest in other major oil producers, including Algeria and Oman, could keep prices extremely volatile this week.
"The market is going to be on a hair trigger," PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said. "If something else happens, get ready for prices to shoot back up."
The recent surge in oil prices continues to push through energy markets, lifting gas pump prices higher across the U.S.
A gallon of regular jumped another 8.1 cents over the weekend to a new national average of $3.37 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Gasoline is 26.7 cents per gallon more expensive than a month ago and 66.4 cents higher than the same time last year.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil for March delivery was down a penny at $2.9351 per gallon and gasoline futures for March delivery fell 2 cents to $2.8841 per gallon. Natural gas for April delivery added 4 cents at $4.049 per 1,000 cubic feet.
