Hedge funds and money managers trimmed their bullish bets on US crude futures and options positions for a third straight week, data showed on Friday, as worries over a global glut persisted. The speculator group cut its combined futures and options position in New York and London by 23,119 contracts to 271,274 during the week to Aug. 22, the highest amount in about a month, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said.
Gross long positions among money managers tumbled to the lowest level in a month while short positions climbed to their highest in a month. US oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up by about 0.2 percent during the trading days ended Aug. 22.
Broadly, analysts have said oil markets have been weighed down by data suggesting domestic US production was edging higher, stoking worries that a global crude glut persists. US crude output rose to 9.5 million barrels per day from 9.4 million a week earlier, data from the US Department of Energy showed last week.
Investors are concerned that the rising US output could add to global oversupply, which has prompted the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers to curtail production to boost prices. The worries come despite drawdowns in crude inventories as refiners process near record volumes of oil.
US energy companies cut oil rigs for a second week in a row ahead of Hurricane Harvey and as a more than year-long recovery in drilling slows down in reaction to soft crude prices, data showed on Friday. Among refined products, bullish bets on US gasoline futures and options fell to the lowest level in a month.