Brent crude fell below $95 per barrel on Thursday, September 3, giving the oil market a brief pause after three consecutive days of gains as investors assessed the latest US-Iran tensions and the risk to global oil supplies.
Brent was trading at around $95.04 per barrel in early trading, down 59 cents from the previous session, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell to about $90.63.
The decline comes after oil prices climbed sharply earlier in the week following renewed fighting between the United States and Iran.
For now, investors appear to be taking some comfort from signs that the latest confrontation may not immediately lead to a much larger disruption of oil supplies. US President Donald Trump has said the latest attacks could be short-lived, although he has also indicated that the United States remains prepared for further military action.
The Strait of Hormuz remains at the centre of the market’s concerns.
The narrow waterway between Iran and Oman is one of the world’s most important routes for oil shipments. Any prolonged disruption there could reduce the amount of oil reaching international markets and push prices higher.
Oil is still moving through the strait, but shipments remain affected by the conflict. Reuters reported that 17 million barrels of oil passed through Hormuz on Monday, the highest daily volume since the conflict began, although overall traffic remains below normal levels.
That uncertainty is why the market has remained highly sensitive to developments in the region.
There is also some support for oil prices coming from the United States, where crude inventories fell by 4.5 million barrels in the week ending August 28. The decline was significantly larger than analysts had expected and came as US refineries operated at high levels and crude exports increased.
Still, Thursday’s fall shows that oil prices do not move in only one direction when tensions rise.
Investors are constantly weighing the possibility of supply disruptions against the amount of oil that is actually reaching the market. When fears of a major shortage increase, prices tend to rise. When those fears ease, prices can fall even while the underlying conflict continues.
For Ghana, the movement in international oil prices matters because changes in global petroleum costs can eventually feed into prices at local fuel stations.
For now, Brent has pulled back below $95, but it remains significantly higher than it was before the latest surge. The conflict around Hormuz is also unresolved, leaving the market vulnerable to another sharp price increase if oil shipments are disrupted further.
So while Thursday’s decline offers some relief, the pressure on global oil markets has not disappeared.
