New Delhi, May 18 -- Oil prices climbed sharply on Monday after a drone attack near a nuclear power plant in the UAE heightened fears of fresh hostilities in West Asia.

At 7:20 am, the July contract of Brent on the Intercontinental Exchange was at $111.56 per barrel, up 2.18% from its previous close. The June contract of West Texas Intermediate on the NYMEX rose 2.64% to $108.20 a barrel.

Calling the incident a "dangerous escalation", the UAE said a drone strike had triggered a fire near its nuclear power station on Sunday.

A BBC report said officials are investigating the source of the strike. While two drones were intercepted, the third drone struck an electrical generator "outside the inner perimeter" of the Barakah Nuclear Power Pl...