Brent oil prices open today’s trading session at $112 a barrel, boosted by higher stock markets, however prices remain mixed as traders cut their long positions in Brent, a sign that the oil market remains volatile.<\/p>\n
Latest Brent Oil Price<\/strong><\/p>\n In London, Brent crude oil futures for October 2011 delivery was trading at $112.19 a barrel, 04.45 GMT this morning on the ICE Futures Exchange.<\/p>\n Stock Markets Move Higher<\/strong><\/p>\n “Investors are expecting more monetary easing policies from the US and that’s why money is coming back into equities. As long as stock markets are improving, oil will be in a better shape.” said Tetsu Emori, a Tokyo commodities fund manager at Astmax Investments.<\/p>\n ICE Oil Trading Report<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the ICE weekly Commitment of Traders report published yesterday, money managers, including hedge funds, cut their net long positions in Brent crude oil futures and options by 12 percent compared with the previous week to 43,489 contracts.<\/p>\n The net long position is the difference between the number of long positions, or bets that prices will rise, and short positions, or bets that prices will fall.<\/p>\n The number of short positions reached 52,720, the highest level since the ICE started publishing the data in June. The number has been rising since reaching a low of 21,982 in the middle of July.<\/p>\n Reduction in the net long position in Brent was the result of speculators boosting their bets that prices will fall, rather than cutting bets on prices rising, said Olivier Jacob, managing director of Swiss Consultancy Petromatrix.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n