A fall in US inventories of crude oil prompted hedge funds and other money managers to purchase the equivalent of 19 million barrels in the NYMEX and ICE US crude (WTI) futures and options contracts over the seven days ending 29 August, according to a report by Reuters.
The rest of the petroleum complex continued to see light selling at the end of the seasonal holiday slowdown.
As a result, the WTI net position rose to 153 million barrels (14th percentile for all weeks since 2013), up from a low of just 46 million (the second-lowest on record) on 27 June, while the ratio of bullish long positions to bearish shorts climbed to 2.70:1 (25th percentile), up from 1.27:1 (1st percentile) over the same period.
Bearish short positions in the premier NYMEX WTI contract had been reduced to just 49 million barrels, down from 136 million.
