Vincent Wu
Research Associate, Flux
CFTC Weekly: Funds Bullish in Crude
Funds add length in crude and cut shorts in RBOB
Published: February 16, 2026
Written by:
Vincent Wu
13 page report
In the week ending 10 Feb, players continued to position differently in Brent and WTI.
- Total open interest in Brent rose by +2.44%, with both long and short prod/merc players opening new positions. Funds' net positioning rose by around +2.55% amidst increases in long and short positions. This is the highest fund net positioning it has been since the week to 01 Apr 2025. Fund long positions in Brent increased by +2.72% to their highest level in over a year, at 377.6mb. Short positions in WTI increased following four weeks of closures. This suggests the market may be pricing out some of the upside risk from tensions between Iran and the US. WTI saw less significant w/w changes, with long managed by money positions increasing by +1.16%, shorts essentially flat w/w. This brings fund net positioning in WTI to its highest level in 6 months, increasing by over +3.10% w/w.
- In the week to 10 Feb, M1 Brent rose from closing at $68.20/bbl on 03 Feb to closing at $69.10/bbl on 10 Feb.
- In the refined products, ICE gasoil continued to see open interest drop w/w, with a -1.60% drop, leaving OI at its lowest level in 5 weeks. Funds were risk-off, removing both longs and shorts by -4.68% and -4.04%, respectively. Volatility in the crack was high and driven by geopolitical developments. This is the first w/w drop in length for seven weeks. This drop in length from funds was also seen in heating oil. However, there was a 15.28% increase in short positions w/w, which is the largest % increase in 12 weeks.
- Funds removed -41.13% of their short positions in RBOB in the week to 10 Feb. Managed by money net positioning is its highest in 10 weeks.
- In Henry Hub, funds had stronger bearish positioning after weather reports showed a warmer couple of weeks. After a -45% drop in managed money short positions in Henry Hub in the past 3 weeks, fund shorts increased by +15.28% in the week to 10 Feb.
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CFTC Summary
Funds boosted Brent and WTI longs; distillates saw risk-off, RBOB shorts fell sharply, while natgas shorts rose on warmer weather outlook.
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Edition: Euro Edition
Quiet North Sea, jumpy flat price and loudmouth Trump all in one day!