Kathmandu, June 25: For the first time since the Iran war began, the price of U.S. crude oil has fallen below $70 per barrel. On Wednesday, the price of the U.S. benchmark crude, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), dropped by 4.4 percent to fall below the $70-per-barrel mark.
Similarly, the global benchmark Brent crude also declined by 4.6 percent, settling at $73.50 per barrel. This is likewise the lowest level recorded since the outbreak of the Iran war.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to investigate oil companies, arguing that gasoline prices for consumers have not fallen in proportion to the sharp decline in crude oil prices.
President Trump accused oil companies of continuing to charge consumers excessively by failing to lower gasoline prices despite the rapid drop in crude oil prices in the market.
Following the reopening of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, which had remained closed for an extended period due to the Iran war, gasoline prices have begun to decline in many countries around the world. Since the conflict began, crude oil prices have now fallen below $75 per barrel for the first time.
Along with the decline in crude oil prices, the average price of gasoline in the United States has fallen from a peak of $4.56 per gallon in May to $3.92 per gallon at present.
However, gasoline prices remain significantly higher than they were a year ago. Exactly one year ago, the average price of gasoline in the United States stood at just $3.22 per gallon—70 cents lower than the current level. In other words, although gasoline prices have eased somewhat in recent weeks, consumers are still paying considerably more than they did last year.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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