Oil prices rose F🌜riday, touching prices last seen in the fall, as traders digested further U.S. sanctions on Russi🧔a. 

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, recently traded around $80, up nearly 3%, according to several market data sources. That was the contract's highest price since October. Meanwhile, the S&P 500's energy sector was the day’s only gainer of the index's 11, rising about 0.4%.

The Treasury Department on Friday announced actions targeting the Russian oil industry, including Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas and sanctions on "more than 180 vessels, and dozens of oil traders, oilfield service providers, insurance companies, and energy officials."

'Ratcheting Up the Sanctions Risk'

"We are ratcheting up the sanctions risk associated with Russia's oil trade, including shipping and financial facilitation in support of Russia's oil exports," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

Futures had risen earlier Friday as Reuters cited a report saying the actions were likely.

Traders may also be responding to cold weather in parts of the U.S. that could lift demand for oil used for heating.

Geopolitical issues—including sanctions and tariffs—are expected to be a key, if unpredictable, driver of movement in oil prices in 2025, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote Thursday, even as they forecast steady demand growth over the next decade, including from emerging markets.

Reduced supply, potentially from Iran, could lift prices this year, UBS analysts wrote Wednesday, while a global economic slowdown could pull them lower.