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Brent rises toward $80 as contango talk distracts from inventory and demand
Brent rebounded from about $71 to $79 per barrel, with managed-money positioning swinging sharply as net shorts and gross short exposure left the market sensitive to Middle East headlines.
Oil markets have seen traders focus on futures “paper” structures, including brief moves toward contango, but OilPrice argues that the bigger drivers are physical tightness and demand. The outlet points to Brent crude’s rebound from roughly $71 to $79 per barrel as an early sign of a structural deficit rather than a purely short-covering episode.
According to OilPrice, bearish sentiment in Brent became extremely crowded, leaving the contract sensitive to geopolitical news. It cites Saxo Bank’s Ole Hansen saying managed-money accounts reduced bullish Brent bets into the week ending 30 June, cutting net long by 38% to near a historic low of 55.6k contracts.
OilPrice also says gross shorts hovered near an all-time high, around 226k. When renewed Middle East tensions threatened another round of U.S. and Iran strikes, the outlet reports that liquidation and short-covering helped push Brent back into the $78 to $80 range.
The piece concludes that the market’s near-term behavior reflects distorted price signals tied to critically low inventories and a major return of Chinese demand, rather than a long-term supply glut.
Latest closeWTI crude $71.84 ▼2.3%|Brent $75.98 ▼2.6%