Oil prices near pre-war level

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.8% to $73.87 a barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still above the roughly $70 per barrel it was trading at in late February before the war began.

U.S. crude prices fell 3.9% to $70.34 a barrel. Early Thursday, Brent was down 1.3% at $72.90, while U.S. benchmark crude lost 1.4% to $69.37.

The drop in prices comes as shipping across the Strait of Hormuz slowly resumed last week under the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.