Speculators cut U.S. crude oil net longs-CFTC

Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to August 31, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said

The speculator group cut its combined futures and options position in New York and London by 1,494 contracts to 278,575 during the period.

The data below exclude trader positions in the NYMEX financial crude oil futures contract, which is normally included in our aggregate calculations. The data were not provided by the CFTC this week.

Selected categories from the CFTC weekly Commitment of Traders report:

FUTURES + OPTIONS        Managed                 Swaps              Producer
                             Net        Chg        Net        Chg        Net        Chg
NYMEX Crude              272,917         -9   -495,934     11,327     31,443      2,384
ICE WTI crude              5,658     -1,485   -102,204      2,106     95,889     -4,263
                      ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total                    278,575     -1,494   -598,138     13,433    127,332     -1,879

RBOB                      51,062      5,704     45,157     -1,009    -95,687     -6,284
Heating oil               44,884      6,945     75,865        807   -132,575     -4,682

                           Other             NonReport                  Open
                             Net        Chg        Net        Chg   Interest        Chg
NYMEX Crude              152,860    -17,819     38,714      4,117  2,678,939     39,549
ICE WTI crude              2,713      4,343     -2,055       -703    659,286    -14,974
                      ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total                    155,573    -13,476     36,659      3,414  3,338,225     24,575

RBOB                      -9,866     -1,723      9,336      3,313    337,142    -20,241
Heating oil               -6,573     -2,862     18,400       -208    395,977     -2,247
=======================================================================================
FUTURES ONLY             Managed                 Swaps              Producer
                             Net        Chg        Net        Chg        Net        Chg
NYMEX Crude              238,944     -1,184   -420,533     12,611     26,220      1,098
ICE WTI crude              5,457     -1,578    -98,308      2,051     94,674     -4,137
                      ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total                    244,401     -2,762   -518,841     14,662    120,894     -3,039
RBOB                      50,966      8,176     44,209       -851    -95,616     -7,857
Heating oil               44,781      6,843     75,577        972   -132,284     -5,133

                           Other             NonReport                  Open
                             Net        Chg        Net        Chg   Interest        Chg
NYMEX Crude              117,584    -16,600     37,785      4,075  2,074,185     31,306
ICE WTI crude                 -4      4,230     -1,819       -566    535,646    -18,352
                      ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total                    117,580    -12,370     35,966      3,509  2,609,831     12,954
RBOB                      -8,745     -2,839      9,186      3,371    332,615    -16,992
Heating oil               -6,198     -2,280     18,124       -402    391,410       -816
=======================================================================================

Source: Reuters (Reporting by NY Energy Desk: 646-223-6050)