Oil prices fall back to pre-Iran war levels as Hormuz traffic resumes
Crude prices have returned to where they sat before the Iran war. On June 25, Brent traded around $72.68 a barrel and US WTI around $69.58, both at their lowest since February 27 — the period just before the conflict began. The moves followed a drop of more than $3 a barrel the prior day.
The decline is driven by supply returning to the market. An accord signed the previous week to halt the US-Israeli conflict with Iran has allowed traffic to resume through the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for roughly a fifth of seaborne oil. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said flows through the strait were close to pre-war levels, with at least 20 million barrels passing through in the prior 24 hours. Iran is also expected to lift exports after a temporary easing of US sanctions, and Oman opened alternative routes to ease tanker movements.
The near-complete unwinding of the war’s risk premium suggests traders see the ceasefire holding and the supply threat receding, though the report notes full normalization could take weeks as mine-clearing operations continue. For consumers, the retreat points toward easing fuel costs; for producers, it removes the windfall that the conflict had briefly delivered.