Oil and gas prices continue to fall ahead of the Fourth of July weekend as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz cautiously resumed.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, was trading at $73.81 a barrel at 10:40 a.m. EDT, down 4.2% from Tuesday's close.

BEIJING, June 25 : Oil prices extended their decline on Thursday, edging closer to pre-war levels as stranded tankers exited the Strait of Hormuz following an initial accord to…