Crude oil up on OPEC speculation, geopolitical tensions

The price of crude oil was higher in New York on Monday as investors bet that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies will cut production quotas when it meets this weekend in Vienna as a number of officials from OPEC nations made comments indicating that the cartel wants prices to rise.

In addition, news of a confrontation between several Chinese ships and a US surveillance ship in the South China Sea on Sunday pushed prices higher, as did a declaration of force majeure from Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE: RDS.A, RDS.B) after explosions affected one of its pipelines in Nigeria last week.

April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude added $1.55 to $47.07 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but at last report Brent crude was down 84 cents to $44.01 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex April gasoline futures added 1 cent to $1.34 per gallon in afternoon trade, but April heating oil dropped a cent to $1.22 per gallon and April natural gas was 8 cents lower to $3.87 per million British thermal units.