Oil falls below $75 for the first time since March as Hormuz traffic begins to recover

U.S. crude prices fell 2.7% Monday to about $74 per barrel after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a 60-day waiver of sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil.

It was the first time crude prices had broken below $75 since early March. International Brent crude prices fell 4% to about $77 per barrel, likewise a new low since the Iran conflict began. Both prices remain above their immediate prewar prices of $62 and $68 a barrel, respectively.

In a statement published on social media Monday, Bessent said Iran had “committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz.”

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The optimism in markets Monday could still prove premature, as negotiations over the strait and attack postures in the broader region remain fluid. On Saturday, Iran threatened to close the strait again over ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz began to recover this weekend — but volumes remain significantly below prewar levels, according to an international data group.

From Friday through Sunday, a daily average of 23 transits was recorded by the tracking group Kpler, which maintains the MarineTraffic website.

Those figures represent a significant increase from the single-digit levels seen at the height of the war in April — yet remain below the prewar average daily figure of 130 vessels.

Kpler data showed 17 crossings occurred Sunday, 35 on Saturday and 19 on Friday. It said most ships continued to use routes that have been designated by Iran, or else they turned off their transponders while transiting the waterway.

“The key point is not that traffic stopped, but that traffic continued while using less standard/less transparent routing,” Kpler said in a statement.

The prices of other key commodities are also returning to prewar levels Monday. Data from the commodities group Argus showed that the price of urea, a key ingredient for fertilizer, has fallen 50% from the peak prices seen in April.