Crude Ekes Out Gain

The energy complex was mostly weaker Monday, but oil futures overcame early selling pressure and closed higher for the eighth time in the last nine trading sessions in New York.

The May contract for light sweet crude oil was up 7 cents at $65.94 a barrel. Reformulated gasoline was 5 cents lower at $2.06 a gallon, and heating oil slipped 2 cents to $1.86 a gallon.

The near-term natural gas contract was down 6 cents at $7.67 per million British thermal units.

Meanwhile, rhetoric between Tehran and the West over 15 British soldiers detained in Iran acquired a hard-line tone over the weekend, according to Cliff Kupchan, director for Europe and Eurasia at The Eurasia Group, a geopolitical think tank.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Britain of turning the situation into "an international crisis." President Bush joined the debate by referring to the detainees as "hostages," telling reporters at Camp David that the British captives are "innocent, they were doing nothing, and they were summarily plucked out of the water."

Bush probably wouldn't have used the word "hostage" without the approval of British officials, Kupchan said. "Both Bush and Ahmadinejad put things in fairly harsh terms. This indicates that the two sides may be preparing for a rather lengthy stand-off.

"Iran wants to level the playing field, since the U.S. is flexing its muscles with two aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf," Kupchan continued. "The chance that the detainees will be released in the next few days is low. This situation could easily go on for another several weeks to a month."