Crude prices rose on Wednesday as another round of optimism on Greek debt deal lifted sentiment and tension between Iran and the West fired supplies concerns, Xinhua reported.
There was optimism that Athens will try to take new deficit cuts measures in order to get the international rescue fund in time.
Besides, tension between Iran and the West intensified after the U.S. imposed the harshest sanctions on Iran's whole government, including freezing Iranian central bank's assets. And strong words of Iran's ambassador to Moscow against the U.S. provided more supports to crude prices.
But U.S. rising inventories curbed the gains. The Energy Information Administration reported that the U.S. crude stocks increased by 300,000 barrels in the week ended Feb. 3. Although it came in less than analysts' expectation of 2.25 million barrels build, it still showed the tepid domestic demand and weighed on the markets.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery gained 30 cents, or 0.30 percent to settle at 98.71 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude rose 97 cents, or 0.83 percent to close at 117.20 dollars a barrel.
...