This, from the EIA’s Short Term Energy Outlook, here:
“Producers, merchants, refiners, and other physical market participants in the WTI crude oil market have been net long for the WTI futures contract since June 2019 (Figure 3). Historically, these traders are net short as a group because most physical market participants are sellers of crude oil…
Several factors could be contributing to the net long position of the producer/merchant category, including a reduction in the quantity of future crude oil production that oil producers are hedging. Similarly, refiners or other end users could be increasing long positions amid uncertainty regarding the January 2020 transition to low-sulfur fuel oil shipping regulations, which could contribute to higher premiums of light, sweet crude oils such as WTI.“
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