Mar’25 Brent futures has rallied heading into 2025, increasing from an intraday low of $71.70/bbl on 20 Dec up to an intraday high of $77.80/bbl on 08 Jan. Thereafter, the Mar’25 contract saw a slight downward correction to $76.00/bbl at the time of writing on 09 Jan. Bullish crude oil sentiment has surged recently, driven by OPEC+ cuts and expectations of renewed US sanctions on Iran. In line with this recent strength, Onyx’s weekly CFTC COT predictor anticipates speculative players to be risk-on in Brent, while reducing their short positions for the week ending 07 Jan. Managed-by-money long positions are expected to increase by almost 18.8mb, compared to an increase of 24.5mb for the week ending 31 Dec, and decrease their short positions by 7.5mb, after removing 10.2mb the prior week. Meanwhile, prod/merc players are projected to increase both long and short positions by 41mb and 32mb, respectively.
