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Bearish Funds Flock To Crude Futures

Speculative shorts in crude futures positions highest since the start of Iran war; Open interest declines across refined product futures
Published: May 31, 2026
Written by:
Vincent Wu

Vincent Wu

Research Associate, Flux
Vincent Wu
13 page report
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In the week ending 26 May, money managers were decisively bearish in Brent futures.

  • They trimmed a significant amount of long positions, falling by 20mb (-5%), whilst adding nearly an equal amount of shorts, amounting to 20mb (+20%). Outright short positions surpassed 100mb for the first time since the week ending 03 Mar, when the Iran war first started. The money manager long:short ratio fell to 3.53:1.00, and is now below the 50th percentile for all weeks since 2013, indicating an increasingly bearish stance from speculators.

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