Brent Slides 4.3% as Hopes for Hormuz Transit Easing Weigh on Oil

Oil prices fell for a fourth straight session on June 24, dropping back to levels seen before military conflict between the US and Iran. Investor sentiment stabilized as concerns over crude supply disruptions in the Middle East eased.

August Brent crude settled at $73.74 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, down 4.33% from the previous session. August West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.92% to $70.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Both benchmarks closed at their lowest levels since Feb. 27, before the outbreak of the US-Iran war.

The decline reflected easing fears of supply disruptions. Hopes for progress in negotiations between Washington and Tehran fed expectations that crude held back in Gulf waters would return to the market.

According to the shipping industry, three tankers carrying a combined 5 million barrels of crude recently passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Two of the vessels were bound for Asia.

The possibility of looser US sanctions on Iran, Oman's measures to support safe passage and easing tensions in Lebanon also raised expectations for a normalization in crude supply, adding further downward pressure on prices.

Separately, President Donald Trump criticized refiners, saying pump prices had not fallen enough despite the drop in global oil prices.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that major oil companies were not properly reflecting lower crude prices in retail gasoline prices and that consumers were bearing an unfair burden. He said he had directed the Department of Justice to open an immediate investigation and pressed for gasoline prices to fall much faster.

Kim Yeon-ji, Hankyung.com reporter kongzi@hankyung.com