Oil prices fall on Crimea's referendum results

Oil prices dropped Monday amid speculations that Russia is unlikely to disrupt its oil shipment to Europe following Crimea's referendum results.

The Crimean parliament declared independence from Ukraine on Monday, after official results of Sunday referendum showed 97 percent of Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.

The West has rejected the referendum, calling the vote "illegal " and "contrary to Ukrainian Constitution."

U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday that the United States will not recognize the referendum, vowing to impose fresh sanctions on Russia.

Russia produced more than 10 million barrels of crude a day in January, and is the second-largest producer of natural gas. More than 70 percent of Russian crude and gas exports to Europe pass through Ukraine.

Traders believed that Russia's oil and gas would continue to flow through Ukraine despite the sanctions.

On the economic front, manufacturing activity in the New York region continued to improve in March, according to the Empire State Manufacturing Survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The general business conditions index registered 5.61 in March, slightly higher than 4.48 in the prior month.

U.S. industrial production increased 0.6 percent in February after having declined 0.2 percent in January, beating market expectations, the U.S. Federal Reserve said Monday.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery moved down 81 cents to settle at 98.08 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery lost 1.97 dollars to close at 106.24 dollars a barrel.