WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large speculators sharply decreased their net positions in the WTI Crude Oil futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial futures contracts of WTI Crude Oil futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 328,764 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday June 20th. This was a weekly decline of -30,235 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 358,999 net contracts.
Speculative positions have now fallen for two straight weeks and by a total of -53,705 contracts. This decline has pushed their net bullish position to the lowest level since May 9th when net positions totaled 328,751 contracts.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -359,714 contracts on the week. This was a weekly rise of 16,291 contracts from the total net of -376,005 contracts reported the previous week.
USO (NYSE:USO)
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the USO Crude Oil ETF, which tracks the price of WTI crude oil, closed at approximately $8.95 which was a decrease of $-0.65 from the previous close of $9.60, according to unofficial market data.