Oil prices dip as Strait of Hormuz tanker traffic plummets

Oil prices settled lower on Friday, July 10, after a week of renewed military clashes between the United States and Iran, but still posted sharp weekly gains as a significant slowdown in tanker traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz underscored persistent supply risks. The price of Brent crude fell 29 cents to settle at $76.01 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $71.41, down 67 cents. For the week, Brent gained about 5.5% and WTI nearly 4%.

The decline in prices came despite a dramatic drop in commercial shipping through the strait, a vital chokepoint that carried roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies before the conflict began on February 28. Data from multiple maritime analytics firms showed traffic had plunged to a fraction of its normal levels. By Thursday, only a handful of cargo ships were observed transiting, with some reports indicating as few as three fuel tankers making the crossing with their tracking systems active. Traffic along the southern shipping route near Oman, which had seen increased use in recent weeks, appeared to have ground to a virtual halt.

The slowdown followed a series of military exchanges that began...