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The price of oil has fallen to levels not seen since before the Iran war as traffic through the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route gradually resumes.<\/b><\/p>\n
Global benchmark Brent crude briefly fell below $72.48 (\u00a355) a barrel, the price it was at the day before the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, before edging up to $72.63.<\/p>\n
Energy prices have been on a wild ride since Iran responded to the strikes by effectively closing the strait, a critical waterway for oil and gas shipments.<\/p>\n
The cost of crude has been moving sharply lower since the US and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)<\/a> on 17 June which set out a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme and other measures to end the war.<\/p>\n Representatives from the two sides met in Switzerland last weekend for talks to end the war, which resulted in the US partially lifting sanctions on Iranian oil exports.<\/p>\n The number of vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz has risen significantly<\/a> since the MOU was signed, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.<\/p>\n The ships passing through the waterway in recent days include those carrying crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), fertiliser and other goods, Kpler told the BBC.<\/p>\n The US and Iran had also formed a “communication line” to prevent misunderstandings “with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz”, mediators Qatar and Pakistan said in a joint statement on Monday.<\/p>\n There has been a “tremendous shift” with far more ships using the strait in recent days, said Dimitris Maniatis, the chief executive of Marisks, a maritime risk advisory firm working with ships stuck in the region.<\/p>\n His company estimates around 80 ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since Monday after the first round of peace talks between US and Iran in Switzerland.<\/p>\n A limited number of ships can cross a northern passageway with the permission of Iranian authorities, he said. <\/p>\n The US navy has also provided guidance for vessels to travel through a southern route that is safe from mines and other obstacles that has been laid out since the war, Maniatis said.<\/p>\n But the number of ships crossing the strait is still below levels seen before the war, when it was used by more than 100 ships a day.<\/p>\n Hundreds of ships still appear to be waiting in the Gulf.<\/p>\n Fuel prices at the pump rose sharply when the Iran war began, and now the focus is on how quickly they will fall.<\/p>\n The average price of regular gasoline in the US has dropped to around $3.93 a gallon after reaching $4 a gallon in April, its highest since 2022, but is still well above pre-war levels.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an investigation into major energy companies<\/a>, accusing Shell, ExxonMobil and other firms of “gouging” drivers by not reducing fuel prices even as oil costs fell. <\/p>\n “Oil prices have come down so much and we are not seeing anything at the pump by comparison the way they should be,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil and gas industry in the US, said fuel prices “don’t move in lockstep with crude oil”.<\/p>\n British energy firms have faced similar accusations of unfairly hiking petrol prices since the Iran war.<\/p>\n