Oil prices DROP to pre-Iran-conflict levels

The price of oil has fallen to pre-conflict levels after more than four months of a damaging surge from the conflict with Iran.

On Friday, Brent Crude oil traded at about $72 and has fallen farther to $70 on Tuesday, just below the $72 mark before the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran commenced in late February.

‘We’re either going to make a deal, or we’re going to finish the job. It won’t be tough to finish the job.’

President Donald Trump faced some criticism after gas prices spiked from the Strait of Hormuz shutting down. In recent weeks he has been working on a peace agreement to open up traffic in the pivotal trade route.

Oil prices spiked slightly on Monday after a strike was reported on a tanker from Qatar by Iranian forces, but the price recovered by the next day.

The cause was further aided by a sharp cut in pricing by Saudi Arabia, a key member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

“Weak Asian demand, especially from China, together with the sanctions waiver on Iranian crude, has intensified competition among sellers and shifted the market in buyers’ favor,” said energy analyst Emma Li to Reuters.

On Monday, Trump warned that the U.S. would renew the military conflict if Iran could not agree to a peace agreement soon.

“We’re either going to make a deal, or we’re going to finish the job. It won’t be tough to finish the job,” he said to reporters at the White House.

About a fifth of global oil supplies flow through the Strait of Hormuz.