Oil prices fall to pre-war levels

2026-06-25 16:06:00, Ekonomi CNA

Oil prices have fallen to levels not seen since before the war with Iran, while traffic through the key shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz is gradually resuming.

The price of Brent crude oil briefly fell below $72.48 a barrel, the price it had the day before the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, before reaching $73.23.

Energy prices have seen a dramatic rise since Iran responded to the attacks by effectively closing the strait, a critical waterway for oil and gas shipments.

The price of crude oil has fallen sharply since the US and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on June 17, which set a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program and other measures to end the war.

Representatives from both sides met in Switzerland last weekend for talks to end the war, which resulted in the partial lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil exports by the US.

The number of ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz has increased significantly since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

Its latest data suggests that 284 ships have made the transit since June 18, the day after the agreement was signed, although this figure is still well below the pre-conflict average of around 138 crossings each day.

Ships passing through the waterway in recent days include those carrying crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), fertilizers and other goods, Kpler told the BBC.

The US and Iran had also formed a "line of communication" to prevent misunderstandings "with a view to the safe passage of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz," mediators Qatar and Pakistan said in a joint statement on Monday.

There has been a "tremendous change" with many more ships using the strait in recent days, said Dimitris Maniatis, executive director of Marisks, a maritime risk consultancy that works with ships stranded in the region.

A limited number of ships can pass through a northern passage with permission from Iranian authorities, he said.

The US Navy has also issued instructions for ships to travel through a southern route that is safe from mines and other obstacles that have been placed since the war, Maniatis said.

But the number of ships transiting the strait is still below pre-war levels, when it was used by more than 100 ships a day.

Hundreds of ships appear to still be waiting in the Persian Gulf.

Fuel prices at the pumps rose sharply when the war with Iran began, and now the focus is on how quickly they will fall.

The average price of regular gasoline in the US has fallen to about $3.93 per gallon, after reaching $4 per gallon in April, the highest since 2022, but is still well above pre-war levels.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an investigation into major energy companies, accusing Shell, ExxonMobil and other firms of "cheating" drivers by not lowering fuel prices even as oil costs fell.

"Oil prices have dropped so much and we're not seeing anything at the pump compared to what it should be," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the U.S. oil and gas industry, said fuel prices "do not move in step with crude oil."

British energy firms have faced similar accusations of unfairly raising petrol prices since the Iran war.

The UK competition watchdog said last month there was no widespread evidence of this, adding that average profit margins were "broadly unchanged" between February and March./CNA