Oil prices rose for a second consecutive day after the U.S. tightened sanctions on Iran's oil sector, intensifying economic pressure on Tehran.

The fresh sanctions target individuals and oil tankers operating across China, the United Arab Emirates, and India, accused of financing Iran and its backing of militant groups. The move comes as President Donald Trump pushes to cut Iran's oil exports to zero to apply pressure over its nuclear program.

Newsweek has reached out to Iran's Foreign Ministry for comment via email.

Senior American and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the most extensive negotiations between the two countries in at least three years, as President Trump pushes to end the war in Ukraine and the Kremlin seeks warmer ties with Washington.

Ahead of the talks in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, Russian officials said they would pursue “normalization” with the United States, even holding out the possibility that major American oil companies could return to Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, rejected an offer by the Trump administration to relinquish half of the country’s mineral resources in exchange for U.S. support, according to five people briefed on the proposal or with direct knowledge of the talks.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has laid off about 1,200 to 2,000 workers at the Department of Energy, including employees at a power grid office, the nuclear security administration and the loans office, three sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Democratic lawmakers also said the layoffs include workers at national labs and hydroelectric plants, and Cold War legacy nuclear sites that pose safety risks. The DOE has about 14,000 federal employees and 95,000 contractors.

The Baltic states connected to electricity supplied via Finland, Sweden and Poland after disconnecting from Russia, which had supplied them electricity for decades.

Following the weekend's cut from the Russian power grid, electricity prices in the Baltic region have started to rise rapidly. This is due to low wind, no sun, the increase in gas prices and recently damaged infrastructure.

Over the weekend, Estonia switched off from the Russian grid and hooked up to the European system. Since then, the price of electricity in Estonia has started to climb.

Arizona’s Senate president will urge Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to undo former President Joe Biden’s "land grab" in the Grand Canyon State that he said wrongly cordoned off nearly 1 million acres in the state for future energy exploration.

State Sen. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said in a letter to President Donald Trump’s new Cabinet official – and obtained by Fox News Digital – that he will take swift and sweeping actions like undoing certain national monument designations to "Make America Energy Dominant Again."

The Trump administration announced Thursday that it is halting funding for the buildout of a Biden-era electric vehicle (EV) charger program.