West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell below the $70 per barrel threshold on Friday, marking a significant psychological break for the benchmark.
The decline extends a sharp sell-off that began earlier in the week, with prices retreating from levels seen after a recent attack on a tanker near Oman.
The move signals that market participants are rapidly unwinding the supply risk premium that had propped up energy prices in recent sessions.
Brent crude also retreated, trading lower in line with WTI’s weakness.
The broad-based decline across benchmarks reflects a shift in sentiment as shipping routes in the Middle East appear to be stabilizing.
Traders are interpreting the normalization of tanker traffic as a sign that the immediate threat to global supply chains has diminished, allowing demand-side concerns to reassert themselves.