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Natural gas and crude oil prices edged up Monday on expectations of colder weather in major U.S. markets.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 10 cents to $59.10 a barrel in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery on the ICE Futures exchange inched up 2 cents to $58.43 a barrel.

Natural gas futures gained nearly 17 cents to $7.644 per 1,000 cubic feet.

"The weather is what's the most urgent, short-term issue here," said Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citigroup Global Markets. "Over the weekend, the weather forecast became a lot colder for the six to 10 day period as well as the 11 to 15 day period."

Colder-than-normal temperatures blanketed the Northeast and Midwest on Monday and were expected to linger through Feb. 18, according to the National Weather Service. On Monday, temperatures registered in the single-digits and teens from Maryland to Maine, while many states in the Midwest were experiencing below zero temperatures with dangerous wind chills.