Oil prices reached the highest level so far this year on Wednesday , supported winter weather in the United States and geopolitical tensions , but the gains were trimmed poor housing data .
New York's main contract , light sweet crude or West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) for delivery in March surged to a four-month high at 103.34 dollars per barrel . It later stood at 102.82 dollars, up 39 cents from Tuesday , AFP reported .
Brent North Sea crude for April delivery gained to 110.82 U.S. dollars , the highest point since early 2014 . The contract is then pulled back to 110.38 U.S. dollars at the end of the transaction in London , down eight cents .
" WTI crude oil at the moment are a bit under pressure after some surprising housing data from the U.S. , " said analyst Fawad Razaqzada at trading site Forex.com .
He added : " But the U.S. oil contract regained some of the losses , apparently because investors are once again blaming the cold weather for this new data . "
U.S. data showed an unexpected big drop in new home construction and building permits in January .
The number of new homes being built down 16.0 percent from December to 880,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate , well below analysts' forecasts 963,000 .
Building permits fell 5.4 percent to 937,000 , below the 980,000 estimate .
Analysts somewhat underestimate the economic data for December and January , because they believe that the weather is very cold in most of the U.S. has been pressing economic activity .
Oil markets on Wednesday, supported by hopes of heating fuel demand strong from the winter that hit the United States , with simmering tensions in Africa and Venezuela .
" Brent crude holding above 110 U.S. dollars per barrel , supported by geopolitical concerns in Africa and Venezuela , while U.S. oil touched the highest level in four months as stocks are expected to fall due to winter demand and capacity salura new pipeline , " analysts at Investec oil in a note to clients .
Crude futures have also jumped on Tuesday ( 18/2 ) due to the cold weather in the U.S. boosted demand for heating fuel is higher .
" U.S. oil prices continue to be supported even more disappointing economic data , " said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson .
"News of another snowstorm will reach the north east coast has helped keep prices during cold weather in the U.S. shows no sign of abating . "
The United States currently survive in extreme winter , the western countries of central and southern experiencing unusually low temperatures .
While the cold weather expected this week in several cities in the U.S. , the meteorological agency predicted another cold blast after that .
New conflict in the oil-producing South Sudan has also provided support to Brent prices .
Fighting in South Sudan that has lasted for more than two months , raising concerns about the stability of the oil-exporting country located in North Africa .
While Venezuela's prepare for the next day of protests Wednesday, as opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez jailed expected to appear in court to hear the charges that blame him for episodes of deadly street violence .
Tight security surrounded the Palace of Justice where about 100 supporters await the arrival of the Harvard-educated economist , who spent the night in jail after a dramatically surrendered to the national guard troops at a protest Tuesday.
It is the culmination of protests two weeks of tension in the oil-rich country , which is led by student protesters angry at the imprisonment and other grievances against the leftist government of President Nicolas Maduro .
Oil prices rose for a second consecutive day on Wednesday (Thursday morning GMT ) , supported speculation that cold weather in the United States can encourage demand for heating fuel .
Light sweet crude or West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) for delivery in March , gained 88 cents to close at 103.31 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange , Xinhua reported .
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