Money managers boosted net length in NYMEX crude for the reporting week ending December 18, as front-month crude futures received a slight boost.
The increase in net length came as money managers increased longs by 3,457 lots, while sharply reducing shorts by 16,054, taking the net position to 103,023, up 19,511 lots on the week.
During that time, NYMEX front-month crude futures rose just over 2%, but remained confined to recent trading range between $85-$88/barrel.
Meanwhile, swap dealers were adding to their net short position, up 13,756 on the week to 168,360. They added some 10,381 shorts and reduced longs by 3,375 lots.
Producer/Merchants continued a reduction in their net short position seen over the past three weeks, reducing 6,053 to 15,592 net short. They shed 25,232 longs and also dropped 31,285 shorts.
For NYMEX RBOB, money managers shed 6,038 longs and also reduced 1,082 shorts, bringing their net length down by 4,956 lots to 58,684.
Swap dealers also reduced net length in RBOB, but just slightly, down 86 to 32,221. They added to both longs and shorts by 549 and 635 lots, respectively.
Prices for NYMEX front-month RBOB futures rose during the reporting week, reaching as high as $2.6909/gal after having settled down at $2.6021/gal.
In heating oil, money managers added 3,329 longs but shed 3,074 shorts, taking the net length position to 22,373 lots, up 6,403 on the week.
NYMEX front-month heating oil futures rose from $2.9437/gal on December 13 to $2.9965/gal on December 18.
