CFTC: Speculators Boost WTI Longs in Brief Return to $100


   
Barani Krishnan
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- Bullish bets in NYMEX West Texas Intermediate (WTI) 
crude rose during the week to March 24 as futures of the U.S. oil benchmark 
briefly returned to above $100 bbl against the backdrop of the Iran war, 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed Friday (3/27).

   Speculative net longs in gasoline and distillate, meanwhile, indicating a 
less bullish position. Natural gas futures saw a decline in net shorts, 
signaling speculators were less bearish there.

   In WTI, noncommercial long positions fell by 9,618 contracts to 376,150, the 
CFTC said in its weekly Commitment of Traders report for the week ended March 
24. Noncommercial short positions fell by 24,550 contracts to 142,530.

   This caused net noncommercial longs in WTI to grow by 14,932 to 233,620. 
Open interest in WTI fell by 79,511 contracts to 2,002,065.

   Those moves came as the front-month contract in NYMEX WTI rose to a session 
high of $101.48 bbl on March 23, a day before CFTC closed its review of trader 
positions for the week.

   In NYMEX RBOB gasoline futures, noncommercial long positions fell by 6,526 
contracts to 92,274, while short positions rose by 223 contracts to 22,428. 
This caused the noncommercial net long position to shrink by 6,749 contracts to 
69,846.

   Open interest in gasoline was down by 25,479 contracts to 355,100.

   In NYMEX ULSD futures, noncommercial long positions fell by 5,527 contracts 
to 37,342, while short positions rose by 337 contracts to 27,775. These changes 
caused the noncommercial net long position in ULSD to shrink by 5,864 contracts 
to 9,567.

   Open interest in ULSD fell by 11,042 contracts to 255,642.

   In NYMEX natural gas futures, noncommercial long positions fell by 6,721 
contracts to 210,159 while short positions declined by 12,143 to 382,766. That 
caused the net short position in natural gas to shrink by 5,422 contracts to 
172,607.

   Open interest in natural gas fell by 56,239 contracts to 1,504,052

    




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