Oil bulls on longest run in 13 years amid supply woes

Bloomberg

Oil is on its longest bull run in 13 years. Hedge funds have increased bullish sentiment on US crude prices for the last nine weeks, the longest such run since 2006, according to data. Almost 14 times as many bets have been placed on prices going up as on a decline, as investors see supply threats multiplying around the globe.
Gasoline prices have risen in tandem this year. “The market is so bulled up right now,” said Flynn, a senior market analyst. “There’s been a lot of hedge fund buying, a lot of speculative interest, and we probably need to hit the pause button for now.”
The West Texas Intermediate crude sank 2.9 percent to $63.30, capping its first weekly loss in two months. Brent, the international benchmark price, lost as much as 3 percent.
The net-long WTI position — the difference between bets on higher prices and wagers on a drop — rose 3.6 percent to 314,387 futures and options contracts in the week ending on April 23, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said. Long positions edged up 1.7 percent, while shorts declined 18 percent.
The net-long position on Brent gained 4.3 percent to 396,266 contracts, the highest since October, according to London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
The net-long position on benchmark US gasoline slip-ped 2.6 percent to 112,149 contracts, the first decline in three weeks. Net diesel positions jumped to 4,043 contracts, a six-week high.
Crude hit a six-month high after the US said it wouldn’t renew waivers allowing China and other major economies to import 1.4 million Iranian barrels a day. The market looked ready for a pullback anyway, with optimistic bets on prices far outweighing pessimistic ones, said Bob Yawger, futures director at Mizuho Securities USA.

Opec+ states complying with oil pact: Putin
Bloomberg

Opec+ states are complying with the terms of the agreement to limit oil output, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
“We have agreements within the Opec+. We fulfill our agreements and we don’t have any news, any information, from any other Opec member, that they are ready to exit these agreements,” Putin told reporters in Beijing on Saturday, where he participated in Belt and Road forum.
“We can produce even more,” Putin said. “We have colossal potential, but it’s not about potential, it’s about the fact that we have agreements with Opec that we keep to a certain level of output.” Russia joined the Opec+ cooperation because a “coordinated price policy” was needed on the market, he said.