Oil prices declined on Friday amid expectations of increased global supply following the resumption of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding.<\/p>\n
The renewed shipping activity through one of the world\u2019s most strategic energy corridors has eased concerns over supply disruptions.<\/p>\n
Brent crude futures fell by 54 cents, or 0.68 percent, to 78.31 dollars per barrel.<\/p>\n
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined by 46 cents, or 0.60 percent, to 76.14 dollars per barrel.<\/p>\n
Both benchmarks had already dropped to their lowest levels since early March during Thursday\u2019s trading session.<\/p>\n
The declines followed reports that several oil tankers successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz, signaling a partial restoration of energy flows.<\/p>\n
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical maritime route for global oil exports.<\/p>\n
The resumption of tanker traffic after the preliminary US\u2013Iran agreement has reduced geopolitical risk premiums that had supported prices during the conflict period.<\/p>\n
Analysts note that increased supply expectations, combined with relatively stable demand, are exerting downward pressure on prices.<\/p>\n
In the United States, the average price of a gallon of gasoline fell below four dollars for the first time since March.<\/p>\n
The decline was attributed to the preliminary agreement between Washington and Tehran and the resumption of oil shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
However, gasoline prices remain approximately 25 percent higher than they were at the same time last year, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Despite the recent drop, prices are still above pre-war levels, when Brent crude traded near 70 dollars per barrel.<\/p>\n
Observers warn that inflationary pressures may persist throughout 2026 due to:<\/p>\n
– Inventory shortages<\/p>\n
– Supply chain disruptions linked to the conflict<\/p>\n
– Higher agricultural input costs<\/p>\n
– Limited US refining capacity<\/p>\n
Farmers, in particular, have faced increased fertilizer costs, raising expectations of higher food prices later this year.<\/p>\n
Although oil prices have retreated significantly from peak levels above 100 dollars per barrel during the height of the conflict, energy markets remain sensitive to geopolitical developments.<\/p>\n
Oil prices have fallen below 80 dollars per barrel for Brent as markets respond to improving supply prospects and renewed tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
While the US\u2013Iran memorandum has helped calm energy markets, price stability will depend on continued geopolitical de-escalation and sustained supply flows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oil prices declined on Friday amid expectations of increased global supply following the resumption of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding. The renewed shipping activity through one of the world\u2019s most strategic energy corridors has eased concerns over supply disruptions. Brent and WTI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"7","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"left-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[196],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34832"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34836,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34832\/revisions\/34836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}