Money managers and hedge funds raised their bullish bets on U.S. crude oil for a third week in a row; data showed on Friday, on conviction the market has bottomed after a near two-year selloff with prices now headed toward $40 a barrel. The speculators raised their combined net-long position in crude futures and options in New York and London by 35 percent during the week ended March 8, according to data by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Longs are bets on higher prices and shorts are wagers that prices will fall. The net position squares off the two.
The CFTC data showed net longs in U.S. crude’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures and options at the highest since November, after rising by 35,651 contracts to 137,983. Global crude prices have jumped about 50 percent in under two months after major oil producers began talking about a plan to freeze output at January levels. Falling output since in the United States, and in nations outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has helped. Before the rebound, prices fell 75 percent from mid-2014 highs above $100 a barrel to 12-year lows of about $26 for WTI and around $27 for global benchmark Brent. WTI settled on Friday at $38.50 and Brent at $40.39. [O/R]