Investors added $98 million into the four funds in the first four days of the month, following a $559.85 million inflow in November that was the most since June 2012.
“People are thinking that we’ve hit the bottom and it can only go up,” Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts, said by phone Dec. 5. “$70 is the new $100.”
Lower Forecasts
Banks including BNP Paribas and Barclays Plc cut their price forecasts after the OPEC decision. BNP reduced next year’s WTI estimate to $70, from $88, and Barclays to $66, from $85.
U.S. crude output reached 9.08 million barrels a day in the week ended Nov. 28, the most in government data started in 1983.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the state-run oil company, offer Asian customers the biggest discount on its benchmark crude in at least 14 years, heightening speculation the country is lowering prices to defend market share. It also reduced prices for all grades sold to U.S. refineries.
U.S. Output
Net-long positions for WTI jumped by 22,365 to 184,374 futures and options. Long positions rose 4 percent to 256,667. Short bets dropped to 72,293, according to the CFTC. Even with the gains, the net-long position is still about half of what it was in June.
Speculators have misjudged markets before. They increased the net-long position by 8.7 percent in the week ended Nov. 11, only for prices to drop 16 percent since then.
In other markets, bullish bets on gasoline increased 8.2 percent to 43,022 contracts. Futures tumbled 11 percent to $1.8116 a gallon on Nymex in the reporting period.