Oil prices jump 12% after attack at Aramco

The global benchmark oil price, the Brent crude, jumped nearly 12 per cent on Monday. This is one the biggest-single day leap in recent times, which came after the drone attacks at the world`s largest oil processing facility at Aramco in Saudi Arabia.

At 7.48 a.m., the Brent was trading higher by 11.09 per cent at $66.90 a barrel. Owing to subued demand and trade tension, the Brent Crude had declined for the fourth consecutive session on Friday. The Brent crude oil prices had closed slightly higher than the $60 a barrel mark.

The drone attacks claimed by Yemen`s Houthi rebels set alight two major oil facilities run by the state-owned company Aramco in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, the Kingdom`s Interior Ministry said.

The Saudi Press Agency, citing a statement by the Ministry, said that the drones caused the fire at the refinery in the city of Abqaiq in the Kingdom`s oil-rich Eastern Province, as well as the blaze at the Khurais oil field, around 150 km from Riyadh.