Brent crude futures climbed above 70 a barrel on Monday for the first time since the COVID19 pandemic began, while U.S. crude touched its highest in more than two years, following reports of attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities.

Brent crude futures for May hit 71.38 a barrel in early Asian trade, the highest since Jan. 8, 2020, and were at 70.56 a barrel by 0730 GMT, up 1.20, or 1.7.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude for April rose 1.08, or 1.6, to 67.17. The frontmonth WTI price touched 67.98 a barrel earlier, the highest since October 2018.

Asian stocks also rose after the U.S. Senate approved a 1.9 trillion stimulus bill while positive economic data from the United States and China bode well for a global economic rebound.

Yemens Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at the heart of Saudi Arabias oil industry on Sunday, including a Saudi Aramco facility at Ras Tanura vital to petroleum exports, in what Riyadh called a failed assault on global energy security.

We could see further upside in the market in the nearterm, particularly as the market probably now needs to be pricing in some sort of risk premium, with these attacks picking up in frequency, ING analysts said in a report, noting that this was the second attack this month following an incident in Jeddah on March 4.

RBC Capitals Helima Croft said the latest incident underscored just how dangerous the security environment remains in the region nearly 18 months after the September 14, 2019 Iranian…