Vincent Wu
Research Associate, Flux
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A Bullish Place
Money managers trim Brent shorts and add RBOB gasoline length; CTAs max long in crude futures
Published: September 14, 2026
Written by:
Vincent Wu
13 page report
Money managers added to their net length in Brent futures for the second consecutive week amid continued Middle Eastern geopolitical uncertainty.
- Short positions declined for the fifth consecutive week, the ninth in ten weeks. Outright short positions have fallen below 100mb, falling by 40% over the past ten weeks, and are at their lowest since the end of May.
- The lowest level that short positions reached was around 50mb in late March early April, at the height of the initial escalation. The most recent short reading is at 97mb, suggesting further room for shorts to liquidate positions.
- In the products, money managers continued to add length in RBOB gasoline futures, with longs rising for the fourth consecutive week. Low and seasonal inventories and strong demand have contributed to bullish sentiment. With long positions fairly crowded, further strength may be derived from potential short covering flows.
- Looking at CTA flows, positioning in crude is extremely overcrowded to the buy-side. From an index perspective, Brent and WTI futures net length are at +49.2 and +50.0 (maximum), respectively. Out of the selected benchmarks, with the exception of RBOB gasoline, CTAs are expected to liquidate their length in the event of higher price action.
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