Oil rose

Brent crude rose after Russia completed annexing Crimea, escalating the worst standoff with the West since the Cold War. West Texas Intermediate oil gained.

Brent futures climbed as much as 0.9 percent and WTI 0.8 percent. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation needed to absorb the Black Sea peninsula and its port of Sevastopol from Ukraine. Futures also increased on speculation China is loosening funding restrictions for property developers and banks to support growth.

“Crude is rising because Putin’s actions are getting more provocative,” said Dan Flynn, an energy market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “We may be swimming in supply, but I wouldn’t want to be short going into the weekend with all of the tension between Russia and Ukraine. Too much could go wrong.”

Brent for May settlement rose 94 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $107.39 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange as of 11:30 a.m. New York time. Futures are down 1.1 percent this week. The volume of all futures traded was 16 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day.

WTI for May delivery advanced 83 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $99.73 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The April contract expired yesterday after dropping 0.9 percent to $99.43. Trading volume was 19 percent lower than the 100-day average.