AKIPRESS.COM - The price of oil rebounded above $101 per barrel Monday as mounting tensions in Ukraine raised the likelihood of further Western economic sanctions against major energy producer Russia, The New Zealand Herald reported.

Benchmark U.S. crude for June delivery gained 42 cents to $101.02 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil had finished last week with a decline of $3.70 a barrel, or 3.5 percent, to $100.60.

Brent crude, an international benchmark for oil, rose 23 cents to $109.81 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Meanwhile, New York's wholesale gasoline edged higher to $3.04 a gallon; heating oil was unchanged at $2.99 a gallon; natural gas steady at $4.65 per 1,000 cubic feet.