New York (Platts)--12May2014/433 pm EDT/2033 GMT

Crude oil futures settled higher Monday on escalating tensions in Ukraine after the European Union called a separatist vote in the eastern part of the county illegal.

ICE June Brent settled 52 cents higher at $108.41/barrel; NYMEX June crude settled 60 cents higher at $100.59/b. In products, NYMEX June ULSD settled 1.17 cents higher at $2.9185/gal and June RBOB ended 1.86 cents higher at $2.9146/gal.

During a weekend referendum in eastern Ukraine, the majority voted to secede from the country.

The vote was "stoking fears of ongoing tension, with the ultimate concern for the crude market being a supply disruption from Russia," said Matt Smith, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric.

But Tim Evans, commodity analyst at Citi Futures Perspective, said the difficulty is that the vote provides no clear mandate for any particular course of action, although the talks suggested by a Russian statement could be a constructive next step.

Also, Evans noted the latest efforts in Libya to end protests and resume oil production, with a renewed chance for a recovery in output in the days ahead.

Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp. signaled Monday the imminent restart of two key fields in the west of the country, and NOC's eastern unit Agoco pointed to a quick ramp-up in production from two fields in the east.

--Alison Ciaccio, alison.ciaccio@platts.com --Edited by Jason Lindquist, jason.lindquist@platts.com

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