Investing.com - Nymex crude prices fell slightly during Asian trading hours on Thursday after climbing to their 2014 high on Wednesday as the markets weighed weather concerns in the U.S. along with heating oil inventories.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in April traded at $102.77 a barrel during Asian trading, down 0.07%.
On Wednesday, the New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of $102.74 a barrel and a high of $103.00 a barrel. The April contract settled at $102.84 a barrel.
Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $99.41 a barrel, Thursday's low, and resistance at $102.95 a barrel, the high from Oct. 16.
Strong winter storms that swept over the northeastern U.S. on Tuesday and brought strong winds and fresh snowfall likely hiked demand for heating oil, investors were betting.
Chilly forecasts sent oil prices climbing, as did unrest in crude-rich Venezuela and Libya.
Meanwhile, the dollar was slightly stronger after the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes that highlighted the possibility of an increase in interest rates sooner than expected.
According to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting held on Jan. 28-29, some participants said that it might be appropriate to increase the federal fund rates relatively soon.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for April delivery were down 0.04% and trading at US$110.28 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at US$7.5 a barrel.