By Nicole Friedman NEW YORK--Oil futures gained Monday on concerns that the West could impose new sanctions on Russia that would crimp its energy exports, though an actual tightening of global supplies is considered unlikely. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 72 cents, or 0.7%, to $100.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe rose 62 cents, or 0.6%, to $108.51 a barrel. The European Union is set to meet Monday to discuss strengthening its sanctions again Ukrainian and Russian companies and individuals in response to unrest in Ukraine. Sanctions imposed by the EU and U.S. so far have not affected Russian oil exports. Russia is the No. 2 oil exporter after Saudi Arabia. However, officials have said broader sanctions against Russia could be an option if Ukraine's upcoming presidential vote on May 25 is disrupted. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine said Sunday a wide majority of people in the region had voted for independence from Ukraine. Western leaders said the secession referendum was illegitimate, while Russia said it respected the vote's outcome. Even if sanctions are imposed on Russia's energy sector, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could cover a shortfall from any export disruptions, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said Monday. "Despite the fact that we still don't expect more sanctions to translate to reduced crude exports out of Russia, we can't dismiss the likelihood that Ukraine is still precluding some potential [sellers] from entering the market," keeping prices elevated, said energy-advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates in a note. Front-month June reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently rose 2.42 cents, or 0.8%, to $2.9202 a gallon. June diesel rose 2.03 cents, or 0.7%, to $2.9271 a gallon. --Andrey Ostroukh, Laurence Norman and In-Soo Nam contributed to this report. Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires

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