In the week ending 11 Mar, combined open interest (OI) across both Brent and WTI futures increased marginally by 21.5mb (+0.5% w/w). Speculative players removed length across the crude benchmarks for a fourth consecutive week, reducing their long positions by 25.8mb (-5.8%) in the week to 11 Mar. Tariff uncertainty and concerns around Russia-Ukraine ceasefire negotiations continue to contribute to this risk-off attitude among speculators in Brent and WTI. Money managers removed 26mb (-13.6% w/w) from their short positions which brought the long:short ratio from 2.32:1.00 up to 2.53:1.00 w/w. Money managers net positioning has increased by a touch w/w, rising 250kb (+0.1%) from its three-month low of 253.9mb in the week to 04 Mar. Other reportable players were also risk-off for a second week in a row, removing just 462kb (-0.15%) from their long positions, compared to a much larger decrease of 14.7mb (-4.5%) in the week to 04 Mar.
