Forexpros - Crude futures firmed in Asian trading Wednesday after Iran siad it didn't expect the European Union to go through with a ban on its oil and reiterated threats to close a key shipping lane.
 
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD99.17 a barrel, up 0.22%.

The commodity hit an earlier session high of USD99.36 and a low of USD99.05.

The European Union recently slapped an embargo on Iranian oil imports over the Middle East country's nuclear ambitions.

The move comes in wake of repeated threats out of Tehran to close the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane connecting the Persian Gulf with the rest of the world, to protest accusations from the West.

Iran said on Tuesday it expected Europe not to go through with its sanctions, which take effect in July, and reiterated its threats to close the waterway, which was bullish for oil.

"The West's ineffective sanctions against the Islamic state are not a threat to us. They are opportunities and have already brought lots of benefits to the country," Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi told the official IRNA news agency, as reported by Reuters.

U.S. stockpiles increased 7.33 million barrels last week, the biggest gain in four weeks, according to the American Petroleum Institute showed.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for March delivery were down 0.06% and trading at USD110.22 a barrel, up USD11.05 from its U.S. counterpart.

The gap in price between the two contracts hovers on the higher end between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical spread of USD1.00.

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