(Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds slashed their bullish bets on West Texas Intermediate crude prices to the lowest in eight months as expectations ebbed that Israel will strike Iran’s oil infrastructure.
Money managers cut their long-only positions against WTI by 12,309 lots to 172,341, the lowest since February, according to weekly Commodity Futures Trading Commission data on futures and options. Long-only positions in Brent also fell 26,294 lots to 229,936 in the week ending Oct. 15, according to figures from ICE Futures Europe.
Oil posted its largest weekly decline in more than a year last week after the Washington Post reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Biden administration he’s willing to strike military targets rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran. That eased concerns about potential supply disruptions in a region that accounts for about a third of the world’s crude.
Meanwhile, speculators increased their bullish Nymex gasoline position by 10,453 lots to 49,917, weekly CFTC data on futures and options show. That’s the most bullish in more than five months.
--With assistance from Devika Krishna Kumar.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.