Oil Prices Drop on Moves to Unblock Persian Gulf Crude Supplies

Oil prices continued to fall on Wednesday as efforts to move ships out of the Persian Gulf have made headway, increasing the flow of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for crude oil.Stock markets stabilized after widespread losses driven by plunges in the shares of many technology companies the day before.The International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, said on Tuesday it would help evacuate hundreds of ships and thousands of mariners that have been stranded in the gulf since the start of the war.The agency estimates that a backlog of 500 to 600 ships still remains trapped.Shipping traffic through the strait is improving, according to Kpler, a global maritime data firm, but it is still a fraction of the more than 130 vessels that transited the strait daily before the war began in late February.The drop in oil prices are not being reflected at the gas pump fast enough, President Trump said Wednesday on social media.

He accused oil companies of “gouging” consumers and said he would order the Justice Department to look into the matter.Gas prices do not move in lock step with crude, usually trailing movements by a few days.Oil prices ease.The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, fell roughly 4 percent to about $74 a barrel for September delivery, currently the most heavily traded contract.West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S.

benchmark, was down a similar amount to around $73 a barrel for August delivery, currently its most popular contract.Stocks regain their footing.The S&P 500 nudged higher as stocks resumed trading in the United States on Wednesday.Stocks in Asia, where countries import vast quantities of oil and gas, were mixed.A day after falling 10 percent, South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI recovered some of their losses in a volatile trading session.

But Taiwan’s benchmark index fell more than 2 percent as shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company — the world’s largest con...