New U.S. sanctions on Iran and an OPEC+ plan to cut production point to tighter supplies. Oil prices rose on Friday and were set for a second straight weekly gain.

Brent crude futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $72.21 a barrel by 0435 GMT. WTI crude futures rose 25 cents, or 0.4%, to $68.32 a barrel.

Both Brent and WTI rose nearly 2% for the week, on track for their biggest weekly gains since the first week of 2025.

There is a clear escalation in sanctions policy against Chinese entities. The U.S. Treasury Department announced new Iran-related sanctions on Thursday, targeting for the first time an independent Chinese refinery among other entities and vessels supplying Iranian crude to China.

While the physical impacts are minimal, the risk premium of sanctions needs to be taken more seriously.

This is the fourth round of sanctions Washington has imposed on Iran since Trump reimposed a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran in February and vowed to cut the country’s oil exports to zero.

Analysts said they expected Iranian crude exports to fall by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) due to the tougher sanctions. Ship-tracking service Kpler pegged Iranian crude exports at more than 1.8 million bpd in February.

OPEC+ confirmed earlier this month that eight of its members would continue with monthly increases of 138,000 bpd from April, reversing some of the 5.85 million bpd output cuts agreed in a series of steps from 2022 to support the market.

However, OPEC+ announced a new plan on Thursday for seven members to cut output further because they are producing above agreed levels. The plan targets monthly cuts of between 189,000 bpd and 435,000 bpd and will run through June 2026.

That has supported prices.

While the group has shared a plan for compensatory cuts, that doesn’t necessarily mean members will follow through. Some members consistently exceed their target production levels, violating quotas.