World Oil Prices Fall as Shipping in Strait of Hormuz Recovers

JAKARTA - World oil prices weakened on Thursday, erasing gains made during the conflict in the Middle East, as concerns over supplies eased and tanker traffic began to recover through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 1.7 percent to below $72.50 a barrel. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude weakened 1.4 percent to around $69.40 a barrel.

The decline has brought oil prices back close to the level before the outbreak of war in the Middle East in late February 2026.

Market participants assess that global oil supplies have begun to improve after the strategic shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz was reopened.

Trade monitoring company Kpler reported more than 20 tankers carrying around 35 million barrels of crude oil had crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Iran reached an agreement to reopen the route.

Most of the vessels were non-Iranian tankers that had been held up in the Persian Gulf for more than three months after Tehran effectively restricted shipping traffic at the start of the conflict.

The majority of the oil cargo is expected to arrive at its destination countries in Asia in early August, raising hopes for an improvement in physical crude supplies in the coming weeks.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important energy corridors in the world as it is the main route for the shipment of crude oil and liquefied natural gas from a number of producing countries in the Gulf region to global markets.

Even though oil prices have weakened, security risks in the region are still a concern.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy on Thursday warned that sailing through the Strait of Hormuz is only allowed through the route set by Tehran.

The IRGC also said that vessels that violated navigation instructions would "face action".

The warning shows that even though tanker traffic has begun to recover, the normalization of energy flows through the Gulf region is still vulnerable to military and political risks.