Oil prices are falling amid signs the disruption to exports from Libya is easing.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery dropped 53 cents to $97.35 (U.S.) per barrel as trading opens on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent futures for April were 2 cents lower at $112.12 a barrel by 1406 GMT.
Oil and gasoline prices soared last week as the rebellion in Libya halted oil shipments from the country. 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.
Gas prices keep rising, however. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded in the U.S. rose 8 cents over the weekend to about $3.37.
The European Union said Monday that Libya’s strongman Moammar Gadhafi no longer controls most of oil and gas fields in the country.
EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said that control over much of the oil and gas fields is in the hands of regional families or provisional regional leaders that have emerged from the revolt and chaos.
The unrest in the North African nation has sent shudders through global oil markets, with concern centering on the possibility that the unrest could spread to other OPEC members, triggering a major supply crunch that would propel prices forward and potentially undercut global economic recovery efforts.
