Oil rose sharply in early Monday trading in Asia following a report that full repairs to Saudi oil fields hit by a drone attack earlier this month may take many months.

Brent crude rose 1.1% after surging 6.7% last week, its largest weekly gain since January. Saudi Aramco on Saturday reaffirmed its commitment to bringing 5.7 million barrels a day of lost output back by the end of the month, however, a Wall Street Journal report Sunday quoted a Saudi official saying the situation is not “as rosy as you might think.”

Tensions remain high in the region, with the U.S. on Friday announcing sanctions against Iran’s central bank in retaliation for the attack that crippled Saudi Arabian oil production.

Brent crude for November rose 77 cents to $65.05 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange as at 8:16 a.m. Sydney time. November Brent settled down 12 cents to end Friday at $64.28 a barrel.

West Texas intermediate for November delivery was up 75 cents at $58.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Source : Bloomberg