LONDON, Feb 14 Reuters Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday, holding on to Tuesday39;s gains on a robust demand growth forecast from OPEC and a sharp decline in U.S. fuel stocks.

Brent crude futures rose by 12 cents, or 0.14, to 82.89 a barrel by 1235 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures were up 5 cents, or 0.06, at 77.92.

Geopolitical factors were also partly responsible for gains of about 1 on Tuesday, with diplomatic deadlocks in the Middle East and RussiaUkraine conflicts offsetting expectations of a deferred start to interest rate cuts in the United States.

Currently events around Israel and Gaza, together with Ukraines war against Russia, weighs more on sentiment than disappointing U.S. inflation data, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC said in its monthly report on Tuesday that global oil demand will rise by 2.25 million barrels per day bpd in 2024 and by 1.85 million bpd in 2025. Both forecasts were unchanged from last month.

OPEC39;s projection of a nearly unquenchable thirst for oil in 2024 and 2025 trumped the somewhat conservative views of others, Varga said. The International Energy Agency releases its own monthly oil report on Thursday.

In other OPEC news, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia alSudani held a meeting with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, in which he highlighted the importance of coordination between the two countries to maintain stability in…