By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Benchmark U.S. crude-oil futures edged higher in electronic trading Monday, pushing back toward the $107-a-barrel mark.
Light sweet crude oil for April delivery CLJ2 +0.12% traded up 29 cents at $106.99 a barrel in New York Mercantile Exchange electronic trading during Asian hours.
Oil had ended lower Friday in New York after gains for the U.S. dollar and as supply concerns eased after Saudi Arabia denied reports of a pipeline explosion there.
Western sanctions on Iran to force it to discuss its nuclear program have been the main driver of oil prices recently.
U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday that he has not ruled anything out in his policy of preventing Iran from obtaining an nuclear bomb. Read more on Obama's Iran remarks.
Obama is scheduled to meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday at the White House.
Among other energy products, April gasoline futures RBJ2 +0.09% rose 1 cent, or 0.2%, to $3.28 per gallon.
April heating oil HOJ2 +0.03% traded flat at $3.20 per gallon.
April natural-gas futures NGJ12 -2.13% declined 6 cents, or 2.3%, to $2.43 per million British thermal units.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
