Crude oil futures declined for the fourth consecutive session on Thursday morning with prices edging closer to the pre-war levels as supplies continued to improve.

At 9.31 am on Thursday, September Brent oil futures were at $72.86, down by 1.37 per cent, and August crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $69.33, down by 1.44 per cent. July crude oil futures were trading at ₹6567 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹6669, down by 1.53 per cent, and August futures were trading at ₹6561 against the previous close of ₹6663, down by 1.53 per cent.

On Wednesday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright informed Reuters Global Energy Forum in New York that flows through the Strait of Hormuz were close to what they were before the start of the war between the US and Iran. He said that at least 20 million barrels had exited the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours. However, he said, a return to complete normalcy would take a few weeks.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump posted on the social media platform Truth Social that no charges are being sought or received by Iran on ships travelling the Strait of Hormuz.

“Additionally, no money has been given to Iran, or released from their money to them, by the U.S. We will be releasing some of their money, that is totally controlled by us, to our Farmers and Ranchers, for the purchase of Corn, Wheat, Soybeans, and more. Food is desperately needed in Iran, and we will be purchasing it for them exclusively from the United States,” he said.

Weekly petroleum status report by the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) showed a decline in crude oil inventories for the week ending June 19.

According to EIA, US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 6.1 million barrels from the previous week. At 412.1 million barrels, US crude oil inventories were about 7 per cent below the five-year average for this time of year.

Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 2.1 million barrels from last week and were 5 per cent below the five-year average for this time of year. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 3.1 million barrels last week and were about 10 per cent below the five-year average for this time of year.

Total products supplied in the US over the last four-week period averaged 20.5 million barrels per day, up by 2.1 per cent from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.8 million barrels per day, down by 3 per cent from the same period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.6 million barrels per day over the past four weeks, up by 3.2 per cent from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was up 0.9 per cent compared with the same four-week period last year.

Published on June 25, 2026