Investing.com - Crude oil futures edged higher on Monday, amid speculation frigid weather conditions in the U.S. Northeast will boost demand for oil products, such as heating fuel.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in April traded in a range between $102.27 a barrel and $102.69 a barrel.
Nymex oil prices last traded at $102.46 a barrel during European morning hours, 0.25% higher. The April contract ended Friday’s session down 0.54% to settle at $102.20 a barrel.
Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $101.69 a barrel, the low from February 21 and resistance at $103.29 a barrel, the high from February 19.
Weather-service provider AccuWeather said that frigid arctic air will return to the U.S. Northeast and Midwest this week.
The U.S. National Weather service also said that a blast of freezing air is forecast for the central and eastern U.S. this week, as two storms threaten to bring snow to the Northeast.
Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to key U.S. data later in the week to further gauge the strength of the economy. The U.S. is to publish revised data on fourth quarter economic growth, while data on durable goods orders and consumer confidence will also be in focus.
Data from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission released Friday showed that hedge funds and money managers increased their bullish bets in oil futures in the week ending February 18.
Net longs totaled 331,857 contracts, up 7.8% from net longs of 306,021 in the preceding week.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for April delivery inched up 0.15% to trade at $110.03 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at $7.57 a barrel.