Funds book profits after sharp fall in oil prices

Money managers purchased the equivalent of 10 million barrels in the six most important futures and options contracts in the week to March 30.

Previous bearish short positions were trimmed by 24 million barrels, while bullish longs were also cut by 14 million barrels, exchange and regulatory data shows.

Portfolio managers were small buyers of Brent (+7 million barrels), NYMEX and ICE WTI (+4 million) and European gasoil (+4 million) but sold US gasoline (-1 million) and US diesel (-3 million).

Most changes seem to have been profit-taking, or loss-reducing, coming after heavy sales of 88 million barrels the previous week, the fastest rate of selling since successful COVID-19 vaccine trials were announced in November.

The hedge fund community remains bullish overall, with long positions outnumbering shorts by a ratio of more than 5.2:1, in the 72nd percentile for all weeks since 2013.

However, managers have become more cautious since the middle of February as infections have surged in Europe, India and some emerging markets, while vaccine rollouts have proved slower than anticipated.

International passenger aviation and oil consumption is expected to increase more slowly in the second and third quarters of 2021, while the United States and OPEC+ are set to boost output.