WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large energy speculators slightly added to their net positions in the Crude Oil WTI Futures markets to a new record high 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 611,128 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday December 5th. This was a weekly advance of 1,295 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 609,833 net contracts.
The speculative net position is above the +600,000 contract level for a second week after surpassing that level for the first time last week. The speculator bets have now risen for seven out of the last eight weeks.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -623,260 contracts on the week. This was a weekly decline of -1,464 contracts from the total net of -621,796 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 $11.54 which was a decrease of $-0.04 from the previous close of $11.58, according to unofficial market data.