Hedge funds increased their bullish bets on West Texas Intermediate oil to a record as rising flows of domestic crude to Gulf Coast refineries cut demand for more costly foreign grades. Money managers bolstered net-long positions, or wagers on rising prices, on the U.S. benchmark by 2.2 percent in the week ended Feb. 25, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. The positions climbed to the highest level in CFTC data going back to 2006. Shipments to the Gulf from Cushing, Oklahoma , which is the delivery point for New York futures, began to surge in January, when TransCanada Corp. (TRP) started moving oil on the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. The added supplies helped narrow the premium of Brent crude , the international benchmark, over WTI to a 21-week closing low of $6.48 a barrel on Feb. 28 from a 2014 high of $14.88 on Jan. 13. […]