Oil extends decline as Trump accuses oil firms of 'gouging' consumers

Commercial vessels and oil tankers preparing to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most critical strategic waterways for global trade flows, maintain their wait in the Gulf of Oman, on June 17. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images Oil extended losses during Asian trading hours on Wednesday as concerns over potential supply disruptions eased, while investors monitored developments in the Strait of Hormuz. International benchmark Brent crude futures for August fell 0.91% to $76.38 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for August dropped 0.94% to $72.52 per barrel. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized oil companies for not lowering gasoline prices in line with the recent decline in crude prices. "The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil. Those prices are dropping like a rock!," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post . "In other words, customers are being "gouged." I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I'm seeing!," he added. Karen Young, a senior research scholar at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy, described the post as "political theater," noting "that's not really how gasoline prices work in the U.S." "There are state and local taxes, which are applied to the price of gas at stations in the United States," Young told CNBC's " Access Middle East. …