Oil prices pressed higher Monday after strikes on major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, shook energy markets already rattled by a decision by oil producers last week to not lift output.
Brent crude, the international standard, surpassed $ 70 per barrel for the first time in over a year, gaining $ 1.14 to $ 70.47 a barrel. It surged $ 2.62 on Friday.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil added $ 1.10 to $ 67.19 per barrel, up 1.7%, falling back from bigger gains earlier in the day. It jumped $ 2.26 to $ 66.09 per barrel on Friday.
Prices have been recovering in the past few months after plunging last year with the onset of the pandemic.
The devastating ทดลองเล่นสล็อต winter freeze that hit Texas and other parts of the southern United States last month knocked out production of roughly 4 million barrels per day of U.S. oil, pushing prices above $ 60 a barrel.
Last week, with oil prices rising, some observers were expecting the OPEC cartel and its allies to lift more restrictions and let the oil flow more freely. But OPEC agreed to leave most restrictions in place, despite growing demand.
The strikes on Saudi sites have increased in frequency and precision in recent weeks, raising concerns about Saudi Arabia's air defenses and the expanding capabilities of the Iran-backed rebels across the border in Yemen.
A Saudi-led coalition launched an air campaign on war-torn Yemen's capital and on other provinces Sunday in retaliation for missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia that were claimed by the Iranian-backed rebels.
The official Saudi Press Agency quoted an anonymous official in the Ministry of Energy as saying that a drone flew in from the sea and struck an oil storage site in Ras Tunura, the port run by Saudi Arabia's state oil company, Aramco.