Hedge funds’ bets against the oil price have risen to the highest level this year ahead of next week’s Opec meeting, in the expectation the cartel’s most powerful members will stick with their policy of keeping output high. A worsening global oil glut has seen speculative funds amass a position in New York and London equivalent to more than 3.5 days of global oil demand, which will make money if the price falls further. The short futures and options position in London-traded North Sea Brent is the highest since October 2014 at 141m barrels, rising a quarter in the last week, while bets against US benchmark West Texas Intermediate have jumped nearly 60 per cent since early October to almost 200m barrels. Funds’ renewed willingness to bet against oil’s eventual recovery may cause concern for Opec as it prepares to meet in Vienna, one year on from the Saudi-led decision to target higher-cost producers by ramping up supply. That move has seen oil collapse to its lowest price since 2009, with little sign of an imminent recovery.