Brent seesaws eyeing Iran, Mideast, Africa, Posted by Meosha Eaton

As reported by Reuters:

* Africa/Mideast unrest, Iran Suez Canal intent supports
    * U.S. economic data mixed, jobless claims above forecasts
    * Coming up: CFTC positions data, 3:30 p.m. EST on Friday

 (Recasts, updates prices and market activity, changes byline
and moves dateline from previous LONDON)

    By Robert Gibbons
  

  NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Brent crude seesawed near a
2-1/2 year peak on Thursday in volatile trading as unrest in
North Africa and the Middle East and Israel-Iran tensions kept
the potential for supply disruption in focus.

    U.S. crude futures rose, helped by the same concerns about
Egypt-style protests in oil-producing regions and with some
support from a weaker dollar. The choppy market drove the
spread between the two grades to a new record high of $16.51.
   

 Brent crude for April delivery edged up 2 cents to $103.80
at 11:36 a.m. EST (1636 GMT), off an earlier $104.30 peak.
Wednesday's Brent close was the highest since September 2008,
as was the intraday peak of $104.52.

    U.S. crude for March delivery rose 28 cents to $85.27 a
barrel. The March contract expires on Tuesday.
    Clashes with protesters in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen kept
investors on edge.

    Tensions between Israel and Iran remained a factor amid
uncertainty about Iran's plans to send navy ships through the
Suez Canal, after Israel's foreign minister called the
intention provocative and markets were rattled on Wednesday.
  

  Iranian state TV said on Thursday that two Iranian warships
were due to pass through the Suez Canal, the first such passage
by the Islamic Republic's navy since Iran's 1979 revolution.
    But Suez Canal officials said they had no notification so
far that the Egyptian government would allow the two Iranian
naval ships to cross the waterway.
 (Additional reporting by Anna Yukhananov and Christopher
Johnson in London and Jennifer Tan in Singapore; Editing by
Lisa Shumaker)