By Mari Iwata Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures rose Tuesday in Asia following broad gains in Asian equity markets and with support from concerns over heightening tensions between Iran and the West over its uranium enrichment program. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $102.04 a barrel at 0801 GMT, up $0.73 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.59 to $113.04 a barrel. Crude was initially a tad up in Asia after slight losses overnight in New York, before extending gains tracking Asian shares, as optimism about the U.S. economy slowly spread while concerns over Iran's nuclear program lingered. Nymex and Brent crude, which have been trading--with a comfortable cushion--above $100 and $110 a barrel, respectively, will stay at those levels as long as tensions continue, Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consulting analyst Tomomichi Akuta said. They may stay at these levels until the U.S. elections in November, with the Obama administration likely to use anti-Iran rhetoric in a bid to win a re-election, he added. Iran Monday helped escalate tensions by sentencing a 28-year-old American and former Marine to death on charges of spying for the CIA. The U.S. condemned the ruling as politically motivated. Nevertheless, few analysts, including Akuta, expect a sharp rise in crude prices due to the persistent euro-zone debt crisis. "The Iran issue has been supportive. But there won't be any further big gains unless something huge occurs--like a conflict between armed forces," Daiichi Shohin analyst Koichi Murakami said. The market will keep watching for any developments from Iran and Europe, analysts said. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for February--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 131 points to $2.7721 a gallon, while February heating oil traded at $3.0867, 137 points higher. ICE gasoil for January changed hands at $965.00 a metric ton, up $6.00 from Monday's settlement. -By Mari Iwata, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6269-2798; mari.iwata@dowjones.com

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