Crude oil rises on Greek bailout hopes

NEW YORK, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices topped $105 a barrel Monday morning as finance leaders met in Brussels to decide the fate of a $172 billion bailout loan for Greece.

The issue has kept investors on the edge of their seats for months. Without the bailout, Greece could go into default in late March, which would likely throw the eurozone financial system into chaos. Prices also were seen as impacted by Iran's decision to stop selling oil to Britain and France.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet, West Texas Intermediate crude added $1.74 to $105.30 per barrel. Home heating oil added 1.11 cents to $3.20 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline gained 1.27 cents to $3.2003 per gallon.

Henry Hub natural gas prices lost half a cent to $2.634 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline climbed to $3.565 per gallon Monday from Sunday's $3.556, AAA said.