West Texas Intermediate traded near the lowest in more than two weeks as crude inventories increased to the highest level in 83 years in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent was steady in London. Futures were little changed in New York after two days of losses. Crude stockpiles expanded by 3.52 million barrels to 397.7 million last week, the Energy Information Administration reported yesterday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country would defend its citizens in Ukraine as a truce faltered, while the U.S. prepared to send hundreds of troops for military exercises in four nations bordering Russia. “There’s not great appetite for selling right now, given what else is happening,” Ole Hansen, the head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen, said by phone today. “There’s Ukraine on one side providing support to prices and high U.S. inventory on the other that’s capping […]