Speculators’ net-long wagers on Brent crude, the international benchmark traded in London, tumbled by 66,683 to 405,986, data from ICE Futures Europe showed. Producers and merchants increased their short positions, or bets on lower prices, to 739,736 futures and options during the report week, the highest level in a month. Longs fell 8.9 percent to the lowest level since early January, and shorts doubled from the prior week to the highest since November. WTI tumbled 10 percent during the period. “If you make it through this next OPEC compliance meeting and we don’t have further jawboning by the Saudis and Russia, or more compliance, I think that you have room to grow on the short side, which is worrisome,” Brent Belote, founder of Cayler Capital LLC, which manages $5 million in oil-related assets, said by telephone.ĭuring the week ended March 14, hedge funds decreased their net-long position, or the difference between bets on a price increase and wagers on a decline, by 23 percent to 288,774, the largest decline on record and the lowest level since December. An OPEC panel is scheduled to meet this month to review compliance with the current deal. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak countered it was too early to discuss an extension. Saudi Arabia is ready to extend the cuts into the second half if supplies stay above the five-year average, Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on Bloomberg Television. As the week ended, Saudi Arabia and Russia sent mixed messages on the future of the production cuts agreed to by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other nations. On Friday, oil settled at $48.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 29 cents for the week. rig counts at an industry meeting in Houston. The cuts came as prices tumbled below $50 a barrel for the first time this year, and anxious executives discussed rising U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Friday. Bets on rising WTI crude during the report week were reduced by the most on record in data going back to 2006, the U.S.
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