Hedge funds unwind long oil positions at record pace

Follows OPEC cuts

Hedge fund managers have been reducing their net-long oil positions at a record pace as investors predict oil prices will fall back below $50 a barrel.

Hedge funds have cut their net-long position by a combined 153 million barrels across two benchmark oil contracts, the largest one week reduction on record, according to the Financial Times. Last month, for the first time in history, hedge funds held the equivalent of over one billion barrels of oil, a sign investors were backing the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries-led (OPEC) cuts. However, hedge funds moved into their third consecutive week of selling as US shale producers are set to raise their output by a further 109,000 barrels a day, according to the Energy Info...