A hedge fund that returned almost 60 percent last year by betting on oil’s collapse says the slump may have further to run. Crude may drop below $40 a barrel in the next few months without a substantial slowdown of production growth in the U.S. and Canada , said Doug King , London-based chief investment officer of Merchant Commodity Fund. Bearish oil wagers in the second half of 2014 helped the $260 million fund gain 59.3 percent, the best performance since its June 2004 start. Brent futures lost 48 percent last year, the most since 2008, as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted calls to cut output. The U.S. is pumping the most crude in more than three decades as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing unlock shale reserves, adding to a global supply glut that Qatar estimates at 2 million barrels a day. “Unless we see real slowdown […]