OPEC meetings aren’t what they used to be. Far from sending the oil market into gyrations, the run-up to last week’s OPEC meeting kept oil pinned near $50 a barrel and sent hedge funds to the sidelines. Speculators cut their total long and short positions on West Texas Intermediate crude to the lowest since January 2015 and one measure of market volatility fell to a 10-month low before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ June 2 meeting. Ministers emerged from the gathering voicing unity and continuing a policy of no production limits. U.S. data released the same day showed oil supplies are dropping, a sign that the supply glut that sent prices plummeting this year is finally dissipating. “It’s very clear that OPEC is less relevant than U.S. production data,” Rob Thummel, a managing director and portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital Advisors LLC, who helps oversee $14.1 billion. “We’re […]