Opinion polls published Sunday indicated two parties that favor implementing Greece’s bailout programs could be able to form a coalition government. Greek politicians were unable to form a government after an election earlier this month, requiring new elections in June.

Crude has dropped from $106 the first week of May amid fears a chaotic Greek exit from the euro would deepen economic malaise and weaken crude demand in Europe. Easing tensions over Iran nuclear program amid talks between Iran and six world powers have also helped lower oil prices.

Some analysts expect oil will linger near present prices until after the Greek vote, OPEC’s quarterly meeting and the next round of Iran nuclear discussions all take place in mid-June.

“Both European debt and Iranian nuclear issues are on something of a hold for another month,” Barclays said in a report. “We would not expect the oil market to gain much of a sustained sense of direction” before those events.

Markets in the U.S. will be closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

In other energy trading, heating oil was up 1.7 cents at $2.84 per gallon and gasoline futures added 2.8 cents at $2.85 per gallon. Natural gas fell 14.8 cents at $2.50 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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The government put security forces on high alert and riot police were patrolling the streets of the capital, Katmandu, though there were no reports of violence Monday, police spokesman Binod Singh said.

Police clashed with protesters Sunday outside the Constituent Assembly, where political leaders from the country’s four main parties had been meeting in a last-minute attempt to agree on a new constitution before the deadline. The key sticking point was whether the states to be created by the constitution should be determined on the basis of ethnicity.

Thousands of protesters opposed to the idea tried to push through a riot police line on the northern side of the assembly hall Sunday. Police pushed them back and a scuffle ensued, with the protesters throwing stones and police responding with tear gas and batons. Three policemen and several protesters were injured.

On the other side of the assembly hall, thousands of people demonstrated in support of states based on ethnicity. A thick police line kept the opposing groups apart.

The Constituent Assembly was elected to a two-year term in 2008 to draft a new constitution but has been unable to finish the task. Its tenure has been extended four times, but the Supreme Court rejected any further extensions.

The assembly’s formation came two years after pro-democracy protests forced Nepal’s king to give up his authoritarian rule and restore democracy in the country. One of the assembly’s first decisions was to abolish the centuries-old monarchy and convert Nepal into a republic.

The political parties have been able to resolve some other thorny differences in the past, including the future of thousands of Maoist rebel fighters who were confined to camps after giving up their armed revolt in 2006. However, they have not been able to agree on the ethnic issue.

The prime minister said he would be leading a caretaker government until the Nov. 22 elections.

At least two of the country’s main political parties — Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) — have vowed to take to the streets in protest.

Leo Bureau-Blouin, the head of one of student group, said Sunday the talks represent a “last chance” for the government to put an end to the conflict.

Students have called for a tuition freeze. The government has ruled out that possibility. The last round of negotiations was a marathon session that went more than 24 hours straight, ending in a government offer that was overwhelmingly rejected.

The French-speaking province’s average undergraduate tuition — $2,519 a year — is the lowest in Canada, and the proposed hike — $254 per year over seven years — is tiny by U.S. standards. But opponents consider the raise an affront to the philosophy of the 1960s reforms dubbed the Quiet Revolution that set Quebec apart not only from its U.S. neighbor but from the rest of Canada.

Anaylsts have said Quebecers don’t compare their tuition rates to those in the U.S. or English-speaking Canada, but to those in European countries where higher education is free.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest, who has vowed to shake up the debt-ridden province’s finances since he was elected nearly a decade ago, has refused to cave.

More than 2,500 students have been arrested since the demonstrations began more than 100 days ago, including nearly 700 this past Wednesday alone. The total is five times the arrests during a period in the 1970s when soldiers were deployed to the streets in Quebec because of a spate of terrorism by a group demanding independence from Canada.

The tuition hike is part of a broader effort to shift Quebec’s fiscal burden away from taxpayers — the province has some of the steepest personal income taxes in North America and the highest per-capita debt in Canada— and onto the shoulders of each person who uses a service.

In an effort to restore peace, Charest’s government passed emergency legislation on May 18 restricting protests and closing striking campuses until August. The law requires that police be informed eight hours before a protest begins, including details on the route of any demonstration of 50 or more people. It also prohibits demonstrations within 50 meters (165 feet) of a college and declares that anyone who incites or helps another person break the new protest regulations can be fined.