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Iran Conflict 2026
4JUN

Trump orders a DOJ oil-gouging probe

2 min read
11:25UTC

Trump ordered a Justice Department probe into oil-company gouging on 24 June, accusing firms of not cutting pump prices as Brent crude slid to $76.14.

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Key takeaway

Brent fell to $76.14 on a partial Hormuz recovery, and Trump blamed refiners for pump prices that have not followed.

Donald Trump ordered a Justice Department probe into oil-company "gouging" on 24 June, accusing firms of not cutting pump prices as Brent crude slid to $76.14, down from $77.08 the day before 1. Brent is the benchmark that sets the price of roughly two-thirds of internationally traded oil, so its direction feeds quickly into petrol prices and the politics around them.

The decline extends the slide that began as Trump's peak Hormuz threats were priced out at $77.54 on 22 June . What the market is reading is the gradual return of tanker traffic following General License X and the IMO evacuation, with UAE oil exports rebounding to about 85 per cent of pre-conflict levels 2.

The pricing runs ahead of the physical reality. Mines remain in the navigable channels and P&I war-risk cover is still withdrawn, so the strait is recovering for rescue and selective trade rather than reopening in full. Trump's gouging probe blames refiners for a gap between falling crude and steady pump prices that the incomplete reopening, not corporate conduct, largely explains.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

On 24 June, the price of Brent crude oil; the global benchmark used to set energy costs worldwide; fell to $76.14 per barrel. That is down from $77.08 the previous day and roughly 36% below its peak during the worst of the conflict. The UAE has largely restored its oil exports to about 85% of what they were before the fighting. President Trump ordered the US Justice Department to investigate oil companies for 'gouging'; charging customers too much at the pump even as wholesale prices fell. Brent's decline reflects growing confidence that more tankers are moving through the Strait of Hormuz, though the strait is not fully open: mines still need to be cleared and shipping insurance has not fully returned.

Sources:Trading Economics
Mentions:Donald Trump →Department of Justice →Brent Crude →Strait of Hormuz →General License X →United Arab Emirates (UAE) →
First Reported In

Update #137 · Iran and Oman claim the strait; US says no

Trading Economics· 24 Jun 2026
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Causes and effects
Caused by
Brent falls through Trump's war talk
Brent's further slide to $76.14 extends the pricing-out of war premium that began at $77.54 on 22 June.
Occurred 22 Jun 2026
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This Event
Trump orders a DOJ oil-gouging probe
The market is pricing in a Hormuz reopening that mines and absent insurance have not actually delivered.
Led to
Brent falls below its pre-war level
Brent fell from $76.14 on 24 June (ID:4468) to $72.64-$73.72 on 25 June, erasing the war premium across two sessions.
Occurred 25 Jun 2026
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Brent falls straight through the strikes
Brent fell from $76.14 on 24 June to $71.99 on 26 June, a 5.4 per cent decline through the IRGC attack and CENTCOM counter-strike, continuing the post-24 June downtrend.
Occurred 26 Jun 2026
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The sanctions that need no signature
Trump's DOJ oil-gouging probe sits alongside Economic Fury as motion not requiring settling the war.
Occurred 1 Jul 2026
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Different Perspectives
International Group of P&I Clubs
International Group of P&I Clubs
The Group has kept its Hormuz war-risk exclusion in force through the entire shipping recovery, even as London hull war-risk premiums fell to about 2% of vessel value. A burning LNG carrier off Limah is now the fresh case for holding that line, with mutual pooling meaning one hit reprices the strait for every owner at once.
Jordan
Jordan
Jordan's government said no threats existed at Aqaba hours before Iranian missiles landed there, and has not addressed the IRGC's claim that Jordanian civilians and soldiers supplied targeting intelligence for the strike. Amman hosts forces it does not command and is saying as little as it can.
United States (CENTCOM)
United States (CENTCOM)
The Pentagon named two of the seventeen American dead, 1st Lieutenant Tyler Feehan and Private Isabella Gonzales, both killed at Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, days after its Amman embassy had warned citizens away from Aqaba's airport and seaport. Washington is naming its own cost while flagging threats it declines to attribute publicly.
Iran
Iran
Iran said on Monday it disabled two oil tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz without its permission, asserting a right to license passage through the strait it borders. Tehran named neither vessel, and CENTCOM had already denied a comparable Iranian claim on 18 July.
Qatar
Qatar
Qatar moved from summoning Iran's deputy ambassador on 8 July to a dated written claim at the UN Security Council thirteen days later, citing Resolution 2817 and reserving its Article 51 right of self-defence. Doha is building a permanent record while still hosting CENTCOM's forward headquarters and mediating with Tehran.
CENTCOM
CENTCOM
CENTCOM confirmed a third American service member died in northern Iraq on 19 July clearing unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone, and recovered unidentified remains at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. The Pentagon has framed its Khuzestan strikes as degrading IRGC capacity, a rationale that stretches to explain a reactor foundation with no nuclear material in it.