For the week to Mar 19, the crude futures witnessed an atmosphere of bullishness from money managers. Total long positions in Brent and WTI increased by 87.8mbbls (+17.3%), the greatest weekly increase since Dec’19, whilst total short positions fell by over 15mbbls (-13%).
As a result, total net positioning strengthened by over 100mbbls (+26.6%) this week, marking a reversal from the two prior weeks of trimming.
Price action for both crude benchmarks soared in the week to Mar 19, reaching 4-month highs of $87.70/bbl and $83.80/bbl for prompt Brent and WTI, respectively.
Brent prod/merc participants demonstrated a clear bearish stance, whilst WTI was more risk off. Overall, crude prod/mercs removed 33mbbls (-2.7%) of length whilst increasing their short positioning by almost 40mbbls (+2.7%).
