WTI oil firm at $92, investors bet prices will trade higher

4 January 2011 4 January 2011

BonTrade

WTI oil prices open Tuesday’s trading session firm around $92 a barrel as investors increased net long positions in oil futures, effectively betting that crude oil will trade higher.

Latest WTI Oil Price

US Light crude oil futures for February 2011 delivery was trading at $91.62 a barrel, 06.00 GMT this morning on the NYMEX.

WTI crude oil futures touched $92.58 a barrel in lighter trading yesterday, up $1.20 from last week’s close, before closing at $91.65.

Traders and investors increased their net long positions, or wagers on rising oil prices by 4.6 percent in the seven days ended 28th December, according to the CFTC’s (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) weekly Commitments of Traders report, which was the highest total in records going back to June 2006.

$100 Oil Forecasts Continue

Analysts have forecast that prices may top $100 a barrel for the first time since 2008 as global oil demand is expected to increase 1.7 percent to a record 87.8 million barrels a day this year.

“There’s this feeling that the US economy is going to get stronger, that the economic recovery is taking root, and that we’re going to see things get better. All of these are working together to push the price higher.” said Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover, Connecticut.

“Traders are anticipating new money coming into the commodities with the start of the year, and $100 oil, if not a foregone conclusion, is really on the radar,” said Peter Donovan, vice president at Vantage Trading.