NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Oil prices surged Monday after temporarily ousted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a notorious oil price "hawk," returned to power and Iran called again for an oil embargo by Muslim nations to protest U.S. support for Israel.

The price of a barrel of light sweet crude oil for June delivery rose 77 cents to $24.46 in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude futures rose 71 cents to $23.87 a barrel in London trading.

Oil prices were still well below the peaks reached last week when Iraq, another major oil exporter, suspended its oil shipments and a strike at Venezuela's government-controlled oil company disrupted the flow of oil from that country. Oil surged past $27 a barrel on April 8, the day Iraq announced its embargo.

Prices plunged back to earth Friday after Chavez resigned under pressure from military leaders. His resignation ended the strike at state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and traders speculated that a new Venezuelan government would abandon the strict production limits set by Chavez to support prices.

But by Sunday the attempted military coup had failed, and Chavez was back in power. Oil was likely to flow freely again from Venezuela, the world's No. 4 exporter, because Chavez backed down from his efforts to exert greater control over PDVSA, efforts that triggered last week's strike. But prices were likely to be supported because Chavez was a staunch defender of OPEC production limits.

"Chavez is a very strong proponent of OPEC and OPEC policies, so we will have a very united OPEC with Chavez in power," said Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Pfeifer.

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Meanwhile, Iran, a non-Arab member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, called for an embargo of oil exports by Muslim nations to protest U.S. support for Israel. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is touring the Middle East to try to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians after months of escalating violence.

Iran's neighbor and long-time rival, Iraq, instituted its own embargo last week and made a similar call for other Arab nations to join it. But OPEC said it would not go along with the embargo, and even Iran has said it would only stop exporting if it's joined by others in OPEC.

In any event, the United States has not imported oil from Iran since 1987, when President Reagan ordered a boycott of oil from Iran, saying that nation supported terrorism.

Though the impact of Iraq's embargo and the threats from Iran and Libya -- which supported another Iranian call for an embargo last week -- are likely to be minimal, analysts said oil prices would hinge on developments in the Middle East and were likely to be volatile in the weeks to come.