By ForexPros.com - Crude future rose in Asian trading Tuesday, as investors blew off ongoing Greek concerns and went long on the commodity on sentiment that cold weather in Europe will boost demand.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD97.38 a barrel, up 0.48%.

The commodity hit an earlier session high of USD97.44 and a low of USD97.08.

Cold weather has kept Europe locked in an icy grip, and oil and its derivatives will be needed to heat homes and businesses across the continent.

Weather forecasters aren't predicting a sudden, early arrival of spring either, which sent the commodity rising and bucking pressure to retreat as Greek financial fears escalated and sparked demand for dollars.

Italy, meanwhile, said it would allow electricity providers to crank up oil-fueled generators to limit natural gas usage after six days of reduced supplies from Russia, Reuters reported.

Furthermore in the U.S., where warm weather has dominated this winter so far, cooler temperatures were due to arrive along the east coast in the coming days.

Escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions coupled with deteriorating conditions in Syria further pressured oil higher.

The White House recently slapped fresh sanctions on Iran and its central bank.

On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for March delivery were up 0.04% and trading at USD116.53 a barrel, up USD19.15 from its U.S. counterpart.

The gap in price between the two contracts is pushing very close toward the higher end of a range between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical spread of USD1.00.

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