By CountingPips.com
Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report
CRUDE OIL: Large futures market traders added to their overall bullish bets in crude oil futures last week following two straight weeks of decline, 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 crude oil futures, primarily traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 391,174 contracts in the data reported for March 25th. This was a change of +6,889 contracts from the previous week’s total of 384,285 net contracts that was recorded on March 18th.
Net large speculator positions on March 4th had reached their highest level in at least a year with a total bullish net position of 425,818 contracts before retreating the next few weeks.
Over the weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday March 18th to Tuesday March 25th, the crude oil price rose slightly from approximately $98.88 to $99.19 per ounce, according to Nymex crude oil price data from the MarketWatch.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Non-Commercial Positions
| Date | Open Interest | Long Specs | Short Specs | Net Non-Commercials | Weekly Change | Oil Price |
| 02/18/2014 | 1650294 | 512044 | 95603 | 416441 | 34107 | 102.1 |
| 02/25/2014 | 1643886 | 514502 | 98064 | 416438 | -3 | 101.83 |
| 4/3/2014 | 1687807 | 521727 | 95909 | 425818 | 9380 | 103.33 |
| 11/3/2014 | 1697240 | 511076 | 104244 | 406832 | -18986 | 100.03 |
| 03/18/2014 | 1623266 | 492620 | 108335 | 384285 | -22547 | 98.88 |
| 03/25/2014 | 1604566 | 498080 | 106906 | 391174 | 6889 | 99.19 |
*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).
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