Market News

As oil prices continued to retreat, international benchmark Brent crude briefly touched levels below $74 a barrel on Wednesday afternoon, having traded below $75 since midday for the first time since the Iran war began on 28 February.

Investor confidence has been boosted by increasing tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and progress in the US-Iran peace talks. However, disagreements over nuclear inspections and sanctions remain unresolved, raising questions about how durable the agreement will be.

Meanwhile, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is gradually recovering after months of disruption, although traffic remains below pre-war levels, analysts said.

Before the conflict, the Strait of Hormuz handled about 125 to 140 vessel crossings per day, including roughly 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products daily, equivalent to around a quarter of global seaborne oil trade.

Reflecting the recovery in Gulf energy flows, the International Energy Agency said UAE oil exports had rebounded to nearly 85% of pre-war levels in early June, reaching about 4.3 million barrels per day, up from 1.9 million barrels per day in March.

Reuters also reports that traders are increasingly factoring in the possibility that Iranian crude exports could return more fully to the market because of the temporary sanctions waiver and progress in the peace process. Analysts say this is contributing to the latest leg down in oil prices, beyond the recovery in tanker traffic.

Oil prices have now fallen by nearly 40% from their wartime highs, with Brent crude peaking at around $118 a barrel.

Brent futures for next-month delivery have traded below $80 a barrel in recent days but remain above the $72.48 level recorded on the day before the war began.

Benchmark US crude fell to $70.36 a barrel by 3 pm CEST. It was around $67 a barrel before the war.

Trump targets US fuel prices

Early Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the Justice Department would investigate oil companies for price gouging.

Trump said on social media that gasoline prices are not matching the decline in oil prices and that he had instructed the Justice Department "to immediately start looking into this".

US crude oil prices have eased following the interim deal with Iran, and prices at the pump are averaging $3.93 a gallon, according to AAA. Gasoline costs have fallen over the past month, though not as much as Trump would like.

"In other words, customers are being 'gouged,'" Trump posted. "I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I'm seeing!"