Crude oil settles under $108

Crude oil prices opened the week at more than $107 per barrel in New York Monday with Middle East tensions still roiling the market. U.S. and British leaders last week discussed releasing oil from national reserves to mitigate panic over the loss of supplies as Iran squares off with other nations regarding its alleged nuclear weapons program. April delivery West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude hit a trading day high of $107.91 per barrel before setting back to $107.73. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, home heating oil lost 1.21 cents to $3.2492 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline shed 0.74 cents to $3.3604 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices lost 0.6 cents to $2.345 per million British thermal units. The national average price of unleaded gasoline reached $3.842 per gallon Monday, up from Sunday's $3.838, AAA said.