WTI Crude Rises for Third Day on Crimea Vote; Brent Holds Steady

West Texas Intermediate crude rose for a third day amid speculation that Crimea’s vote to split fromUkraine may heighten tensions between Russia and the West. Brent was steady in London. Futures climbed as much as 0.5 percent in New York. The U.S. and the European Union warned Russia not to annex Crimea after the referendum, setting the stage for sanctions against the world’s biggest energy producer. Libya’s production fell after protesters closed a pipeline carrying crude from Sharara, the country’s second-largest field, according to state-run National Oil Corp. “With the overwhelming pro-Russian vote in the region clashing with the West’s assertions that the referendum is not valid, expect further geopolitical risk-related support this week,” Mark Pervan, the head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., said in a note today. WTI for April delivery increased as much as 50 cents to $99.39 a barrel in electronic trading on theNew York Mercantile Exchange and was at $99.05 at 1:28 p.m. Singapore time. The contract rose 69 cents to $98.89 on March 14. The volume of all futures traded was about 5 percent above the 100-day average. Prices are up 0.6 percent this year. Brent for May settlement climbed 7 cents to $108.28 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $9.67 to WTI for the same month.

Ukraine Crisis

Brent advanced 1.1 percent on March 14, the most in almost two weeks, before yesterday’s referendum. A total of 95.5 percent of voters in the Black Sea peninsula backed leaving Ukraine to join Russia, preliminary results show. The Ukrainian government, the EU and the U.S. consider the vote illegal while Russia said it “fully met international norms.” “If there are more aggressive moves by Russian troops, we’ll see a reaction in prices,” Richard Mallinson, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. in London, said yesterday. “Markets are watching the situation very closely.” U.S. President Barack Obama has signed an executive order authorizing financial sanctions, allowing Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew to take steps that may include freezing assets or blocking American companies or individuals from doing business with Russians, Ukrainians or others deemed a threat to Ukraine’s security. U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague called the Crimea vote “illegal, unconstitutional and illegitimate.”

‘Upward Push’

“If the EU has a strong reaction, we will have solid technical and fundamental reasons for an upward push” in oil and natural gas prices, said Tom James, the Dubai-based managing director of Navitas Resources. In Libya, crude output dropped to 230,000 barrels a day from 408,000 barrels a day after the disruption at Sharara, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman at National Oil, said yesterday. Protesters are seeking jobs and development projects for the local community. Libya, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, holds Africa’s biggest oil reserves. The nation pumped 350,000 barrels of oil a day last month, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pratish Narayanan atpnarayanan9@bloomberg.net Yee Kai Pin Source :  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-16/wti-crude-gains-a-third-day-after-crimea-vote-brent-increases.html