WTI crude trades near seven-month low

West Texas Intermediate traded near the lowest closing price in seven months after speculators cut bullish bets and as supply rises in the US, the world’s biggest consumer.

Stockpiles have risen to the highest level for this time of the year since 1990, amid increased US production. Money managers cut bullish bets on WTI by 14 percent in the week ended August 19, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show.

“The focus on ample crude supply has been dominating the market,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen, said by phone. “Now that net-long positions have come down again, that’s helping stabilise things.”

WTI for October delivery was at $93.61 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York mercantile Exchange, up 26 cents, at 12:40pm London time on Tuesday.

The contract slid 30 cents to $93.35 Monday, the lowest close since January 14. The volume of all futures traded was about 55 percent below the 100-day average. Prices have declined 4.8 percent this year.

Brent for October settlement was 4 cents higher at $102.69 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $9.11 to WTI. The spread closed at $9.30 Tuesday, the widest since March 14.

Speculators are the least bullish on US crude prices in 16 months. Net-longs for WTI slipped by 30,225 to 188,589 futures and options, the lowest level since the seven days ended April 23, 2013, CFTC data show. Bullish bets on Brent are at the lowest level in two years, data released Tuesday by the ICE exchange show.

US crude production will reach 8.46 million barrels a day this year and 9.28 million in 2015, the highest annual average since 1972, according to the EIA, the Department of Energy’s statistical arm.

Crude stockpiles were at 362.5 million barrels through August 15, the government data show. US production climbed to 8.5 million barrels a day in July, the most since April 1987, the EIA said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook on August 12.